After buying land, the owners needed to clear the area. This not only required a powerful army but also truckloads of resources. After all, a fifty-acre piece of land could have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of zombies. Without an army, a land owner would have to employ teams and other ability users. At that point, not only would the reclaiming cost be high, but the owner would lose most of the supplies on that piece of land. As such, one of the most basic requirements of becoming a territory lord was having an army and sufficient supplies. Other than clearing the land, the army was necessary for defence. From the booklet, Mo Chenxuan and Qin Wu learned they were required to defend their territory. Defence included building a wall, setting up patrol teams, sniper teams, and other such tasks. "We have reserved the land, but we won’t get a title deed until we pay the full amount." Mo Chenxuan stated with a thoughtful expression. Although the new land would have different owners, the base had set a unified timeline for everyone to follow. First, title deeds would be issued at the end of January, and as such, land owners needed to pay the full land cost before the twenty-fourth day of the new year. Simultaneously, while waiting for the deeds, the prospective territory lords needed to prepare for the upcoming reclamation. Expansion would begin on the third day of February. At that time, the different armies would begin killing the zombies in their purchased territory. However, the timeline for this aspect was also unified. Irrespective of the number of zombies in their land, everyone was required to clear their territory by the end of February, Following that, wall construction would start at the beginning of March. For this, the territory lords and base would pool their resources to build a standard wall around the entire base. As for the walls dividing the territories, these would come later and would depend on the different lords. While building the outer wall, the base and territory armies would protect the builders and prevent zombies from wandering into the newly cleared area. After building the walls, internal development would begin. This development involved building houses, roads, water systems, power systems, sewerage systems, and other infrastructure. When that was done, the territory lords would invite survivors to live in their territory. While the base wouldn’t force survivors into a territory, it required each territory to have a population of no less than fifteen thousand people. However, the obligations didn’t end there. After the territory was established, the territory lords were expected to pay a tax of ten thousand crystal cores for every acre of land every year. Additionally, they were obligated to man the base wall corresponding to their territory during zombie attacks and other external threats. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱 "Chenxuan, we are awesome!" Qin Wu suddenly said, her eyes glistening from excitement. "I know." Mo Chenxuan smiled and subconsciously rubbed Qin Wu’s hair. "Do you really?" Qin Wu asked and continued without waiting for Mo Chenxuan’s reply. "We can afford to buy land, afford to clear the area, and afford to develop our territory. Ordinary people can’t do this." Mo Chenxuan chuckled when he heard this. However, Qin Wu was right. Excluding himself and Qin Wu, the other prospective territory lords belonged to a family or alliance. Even Chu Wan’er, a reborn person, couldn’t afford a territory if she were asked to do it without the help of her family. Thinking of this, Mo Chenxuan smiled and turned the page. The new page detailed penalties. First, if a person changed their mind before paying the full amount, the base would refund half their deposit. However, if they changed their mind after the title deeds were issued, they would need to personally find a new buyer to resell their territory. Otherwise, they would be subject to penalties for failing to meet base guidelines. Generally, the penalties involved crystal cores. However, serious crimes like compromising the base’s safety due to lax defence would incur heavy penalties, not limited to imprisonment, loss of territory, and execution. After reading the penalties, Mo Chenxuan and Qin Wu finally turned to the benefits page. First, lords had a permanent seat on the governing council. Even if the king and ministers changed, the lords would keep their seats. Most importantly, this seat was hereditary and would be passed down to future heirs. While the king would have discretion in some matters, territory lords had a significant say on most things, including base expansion, defence, and policies, among others. Second, in the case of expansion, lords had the first right to purchase new land. Only if the lords couldn’t absorb new land would the base consider inviting new buyers. Third, territory lords could set the laws in their territory, allowing them to partially break away from the base’s restrictions. Fourth, after expansion, the base would still have four gates. However, lords and their territorial armies would gain the right to use the West gate at ordinary times, and the North gate during emergencies. Fifth, territory lords would have priority when buying research items, including crystal weapons, genetically modified seeds, and other things. Overall, the benefits of establishing a territory outweighed the burden of the initial outlay, other costs, and obligations. "Not bad." Qin Wu nodded after reading. "Mmh." Mo Chenxuan agreed, but soon frowned. "There isn’t a lot of time to prepare." Mo Chenxuan said. Other than paying the entire land cost, they needed to urgently prepare their army. After all, before leaving for the refinery mission, their army only had a little more than seven hundred soldiers. "Seven hundred won’t cut it." Qin Wu agreed. Although the zombies would be easier to deal with because they would be in a semi-hibernated state, hundreds of thousands or millions of scattered zombies weren’t something an army of seven hundred could handle. "Maybe the deputy captains recruited more people while we were away." Mo Chenxuan guessed. "Let’s hope so." Qin Wu said.