The total merit balance of the host is now 160,148. The total balance of the base is now 4,300.

His merit points were looking relatively okay, but Daz was quite annoyed at how each cabin cost him one-thousand base points. 'At this rate, I won't be able to get anymore Lord upgrades. Ah, fuck it. The base matters more right now. I'll get a Lord upgrade or two tomorrow, after all, I should get more base points after tomorrow's attack than I did today.'

Daz immediately stopped thinking about this matter and looked over Lyle's suggestions again.

Physical Base Upgrade [Small] Base Shop Description A base is more than a defendable location; it's a home. And a home needs everyday goods, no? The only logical place to acquire such goods would obviously be from the simplified base shop. Upgrade Allows Citizens to purchase simple goods such as food and entertainment items in exchange for a few merit points. Allows Citizens to buy simple weapons and tools for a few merit points. Reduces the price of any items sold in this shop by 20% of their original price from the system's shop. Price 20,000(5,000) Merit Points or 800(200) Wood Units and 2,000(500) Misc Units 2,000 Base Points

Daz chose to buy this and he placed it in the outer section of Fort Skip near the five new cabins, right next to the inner wall. He chose to use the resources since he had just enough to forgo the merit cost, but the base cost really hurt Daz. It was a shame, but he knew that his Citizens needed a stable source of food, clothing and entertainment. Peace of mind was critical in order to prevent any riots.

Physical Base Upgrade [Small] Base Mine Description A base needs buildings, and those buildings need materials to be created, and how would you gather those materials if not by via a mine of some sort? Naturally, you could somehow, but a mine is most certainly the best way to gather such materials. Upgrade Allows the Lord to give his Citizens the job 'Miner' and this job allows them to work in the newly created mine to find base resources. Increases the daily cap of resources from 100 each to 200 each as opposed to the Tiny Mine. Increases the number of possible workers from 5 to 10 as opposed to the Tiny Mine. Price 30,000(7,500) Merit Points or 2,000(500) Wood Units, 800(200) Steel Units, 1,000(250) Stone Units, 600(150) Iron Units and 200(50) Glass Units. 1,500 Base Points

Unfortunately, Daz couldn't afford the resource requirements for this upgrade, so he spent his merit points instead. Daz took this moment to inspect the base's resource sheet.

Fort Skip's Resource Sheet Physical Resources Stone: 192 Wood: 185 Plastic: 1,153 Cloth: 132 Iron: 12 Steel: 24 Copper: 60 Lead: 1 Silver: 1 Gold: 20 Oil: 32 Clay: 75 Jewels: 274 Aluminum: 153 Soil: 582 Glass: 1,302 Paper: 2,376 Misc: 164

'Yup. Everything is slowly running out except for a few of the things I don't need right now. The mine is the best option to fix this for now. It'll give people an excuse to work to help get their minds off of the apocalypse while also generating resources for us meaning that I don't have to spend my merit points as much for upgrades, which will be nice,' Daz thought as he stretched and cracked his neck. He had been sitting completely still for a while now.

'Lyle has a few interesting suggestions, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow. I need to implement a simple taxation system first. System, please show me if there are any taxation upgrades I can buy with my current points,' Daz requested.

Confirmed. Desired upgrade, [Basic Citizen Taxation], exists. Citizen Upgrade Basic Citizen Taxation Description A base needs to grow and have a stable economy, so the Lord would obviously call upon his fair people for their aid in the form a very simple and light taxation. Upgrade Taxes all of the Citizens of the base, the Lord included, 5% of their gained merit points and the accumulated merit points go to a separate balance exclusive to the base which can only be used on upgrading the base. Price 10,000(2,500) Merit Points 1,000 Base Points

'Hmm? It taxes me too? Well, that's fine. I spend my points on the base anyway, so it doesn't matter. It really is very basic though, huh? It takes five-percent from you regardless of how much you earned. Not exactly fair, but it'll do,' Daz thought before he confirmed the purchase.

Immediately afterwards, every Citizen got a message from the system telling them of this change. Most were happy enough with it since Daz had already told them that he planned to tax them a little bit to help protect them.

"Lyle, Heather," Daz called out to the two, of which, Heather had momentarily stopped training to read the notification, and Lyle was busy doing the same next to Daz. They both turned to look at him and had questioning looks on their faces.

Daz stood up before saying, "Could you two please explain to the Citizens about the new changes to Fort Skip and assign people to the Mine if they're willing? You both have a fair amount of trust amongst the Citizens, so I'd appreciate it if you could do this for me."

Lyle beamed a smile while Heather's eyes narrowed slightly. "Of course, my Lord!" Lyle exclaimed happily.

Daz then spent a few minutes explaining the things he had bought and he couldn't help noticing the slight change in Lyle's attitude when he mentioned that he had bought the physical shop. He chose to not ask, but he was definitely going to keep a slightly closer watch on his Advisor from now on.

Despite the fact that he trusted Lyle, Daz was still one to get paranoid quite easily. "Ah, right, Heather," Daz said just as the two were about to leave.

"Mmm?" she responded with a fluid and perfectly angled tilt of her head, making her look gorgeous.

'Definitely a previous model,' Daz thought before he said, "Good job today. Your illusion was incredibly useful, in fact, it might have saved my and Crusher's lives. Thank you."

Heather smiled slightly and nodded her head. "It's no problem. Thank you for being fair with the other survivors... it means a lot to me."

With that, Heather and Lyle left to explain everything to everyone else and Daz left the base via the new steel portcullises to purchase the final base upgrade for today.

For the low price of Fort Skip's remaining three-hundred base points and six-hundred merit points, Daz bought a trench that surrounded the entire wall. It was far more professional looking than the hastily built one created by Daz and Rimmy.

He bought a simple line of Defense. One might think that Daz should have bought more attack-oriented Defenses, but in fact, he had a plan regarding this. This plan involved the military base and for a few of Daz's guesses to be correct. Thus far, his instincts had proven to be invaluable to his survival and growth, so Daz had high hopes for his 'guesses'.