All-out Tower Defense: My Card-Drawing Talent is a Bit Strange

Chapter 129 Upgrading the Lumber Mill and Quarry

The high-value crops grown in these spirit fields consume far more water than ordinary crops grown on the sky islands. Currently, this level-four well is barely enough to supply 20 spirit fields, let alone provide water for a living.

So, the Sky Island development plan for the next few days is to obtain gray-quality stone, upgrade the well, check on the elves' recovery, choose a suitable time to build a spirit field, and quickly plant the True Qi Rice seeds I've obtained to begin the Sky Island development plan.

Lumber Mill (Initial Level 2): A basic resource building that can be rebuilt at a low cost after being destroyed, but requires starting the upgrade process again. It can produce 20 units of basic wood per day.

Four citizens are required to work, working 8 hours a day, and each citizen must be paid at least one copper coin per week. Increasing the salary will further increase the citizens' favor and loyalty.

Lumber Mill (Upgradeable): It costs 200 copper coins, 200 wood, 100 stone, and 20 iron ingots to upgrade the lumber mill to level 3, increasing daily output to 40 units and providing 2 additional jobs.

Note that this is a basic building and currently has no color quality. However, its level cap can be increased as the core building is upgraded. Once the corresponding level is reached, its quality can be improved, and it will produce higher quality wood.

For 400 copper coins, 400 units of common wood, 200 units of common stone, and 40 units of common iron ingots, Yang Fei upgraded his four lumber mills to level 2.

Looking at the upgrade requirements, Yang Fei's lips twitched. The consumption was less than he had expected, but the total cost for all four logging camps was still quite staggering. He estimated that the materials he currently had would be insufficient to upgrade all four logging camps to level five.

"Since that's the case, then there's no need to hesitate." After calculating the costs of the next upgrade, Yang Fei sighed helplessly. He had wanted to keep some resource cards for emergencies, but upgrading these buildings wasn't very meaningful for him at this stage, as he was mainly focused on defending against monster sieges, so he hadn't been willing to use those resource cards.

But now that upgrading just four logging camps requires so many resources, and with the constant threat of water shortages reminding him of this, he had no reason to hesitate and might as well just use them.

After taking on the various duties of a trainee lord, the troubles of developing the sky island gradually began to appear on his head. All sorts of fantasies, plans, and even theories were wonderful, but when it came to actual implementation, all sorts of problems followed one after another.

I initially thought my plan was brilliant, but after considering the subsequent problems, I realized it was utterly incompetent. Therefore, I must utilize the talent pool of AI specialists and those skilled in planning and managing Sky Islands. Early training and planning might save me a lot of trouble.

Looking at the resource cards I possess: 19 small gray wood resource cards, 7 medium gray wood resource cards, 33 small gray stone resource cards, 2 medium gray stone resource cards, 1 large gray stone resource card, 27 small gray iron ore resource cards, and 1 medium gray iron ore resource card.

Yang Fei didn't plan to use all of these resource cards; at least he didn't need the iron ore resource card right now. Similarly, he didn't need to use too many wood resource cards. His primary goal was to obtain the 10 units of gray stone needed to upgrade his well, and then the materials to upgrade his four lumber mills and four quarries to around level 3. Nothing else was necessary.

My current sky island level is level 5, so the well can only be upgraded to level 5 as well. Upgrading to the next level sky island only requires one level 5 auxiliary building, so the previously planned level 5 lumber mill and quarry are unnecessary. Upgrading them to level 3 is enough. Using too many resource cards is not very meaningful.

After making the decision, Yang Fei first spent 800 copper coins, 800 units of ordinary wood, 400 units of ordinary stone, and 80 iron ingots to upgrade four level 2 lumber camps to level 3, squeezing his resources to 570 wood, 740 stone, and 1880 iron ingots.

Lumber Mill (Initial Level 3): A basic resource building that can be rebuilt at a low cost after being destroyed, but requires starting the upgrade process again. It can produce forty units of basic wood per day.

Lumber Mill (Upgradeable): Can be upgraded to level 4 for 500 copper coins, 500 wood, 250 stone, and 50 iron ingots, increasing daily production to 90 units and providing 5 additional jobs.

A level 3 lumberyard requires four lumberjacks, so four lumberyards would require 16 lumberjacks. Yang Fei has plenty of inferior demon workers, but they are currently needed for patrols, preparations for war, and monitoring of the refugees from Qianwu Star, so he can't spare too many. That's why the alien citizens who joined Sky Island today have come in handy.

However, this would mean he would have to acknowledge these people as his official subjects. Although they would only receive payment for their work, the water problem would undoubtedly worsen, making the acquisition of those 10 units of gray wood even more urgent.

A single hair can affect the whole body. If you want to expand, you must consider resource consumption. If you want to increase production, you must invest some capital. You may not see the returns immediately, but once you start making money, the returns can be several times, or even ten or dozens of times.

Therefore, preparing to upgrade the water well to level 5 and continue to unlock stone resource cards becomes very necessary at this time. This is the purpose, and the final result will also lead to this. Yang Fei no longer hesitated at this moment.

Yang Fei opened all 33 small stone resource cards one by one. The first dozen or so cards were unremarkable, and he didn't get what he wanted. However, perhaps because there were enough of them, when he opened the 23rd resource card, Yang Fei finally obtained the 10 units of gray stone he had been dreaming of.

Without a second thought, Yang Fei spent 1000 copper coins, 100 units of ordinary stone, and 10 units of gray quality stone to upgrade his sky island's well to level five, solving his urgent need for water and also achieving the most important step in the sky island's upgrade requirements: building an auxiliary level five building.

"Water Well (Gray Initial/Level 5): Basic building on the Sky Island. Under normal circumstances, it can produce enough drinking water for 1000 people per day or supply water for the corresponding farmland. It is susceptible to environmental influences. Drought will lower the water level and reduce production, while the rainy season will increase production."

Water Well (Upgradeable): A basic building on the Sky Island. Its level is affected by the core buildings. It costs 100 silver coins, 200 units of stone, and 20 units of gray quality stone to upgrade it to level 6. This will increase the population it can support and the amount of irrigable farmland it can irrigate to 2000 people.

Note: The water well has now reached the Sky Island level cap. Please upgrade your core buildings in time to continue upgrading the water well.

After solving this most important problem, Yang Fei looked at the existing resources and directly spent 400 copper coins, 200 units of ordinary wood, 400 units of ordinary stone, and 40 iron ingots to upgrade all four initial quarries to level 2. "Quarry (Level 2): A basic resource building. It can be rebuilt at a cost after being destroyed, but the upgrade process needs to be restarted. It can produce 4 units of basic stone per day. It requires 2 citizens to work, working 8 hours a day, and each citizen must be paid at least one copper coin per week. Increasing the salary can further increase the citizens' favor and loyalty."

Quarry (upgradeable): Can be upgraded to level 3 for 200 copper coins, 100 wood, 200 stone, and 20 iron ingots, increasing daily output to 40 units and providing 2 additional jobs.

Note that this is a basic building and currently has no color quality. However, its upgrade limit can be increased as the core building is upgraded. Once the corresponding level is reached, its quality can be improved, and higher quality stone can be randomly produced.

Looking at the requirements for upgrading the quarry to level 3, Yang Fei felt a bit overwhelmed. Wood resources were running low again, and it was time to open more cards. This was a typical problem of adding flour when there was too much water and adding water when there was too much flour.

Yang Fei was speechless. This upgrade was too rapid. At this rate, should he continue to upgrade these two types of buildings?

However, given the current situation, Yang Fei naturally had no reason to stop. The four logging camps were already at level three, while the four quarries were only at level two, which was somewhat inappropriate.

Quarry (Level 3): A basic resource building that can be rebuilt at a cost after being destroyed, but requires starting the upgrade process again. It can produce 40 units of basic stone per day and requires 4 citizens to work there. They work 8 hours a day and each citizen must be paid at least one copper coin per week. Increasing the salary will increase the citizens' favor and loyalty.

Quarry (upgradeable): Can be upgraded to level 3 for 500 copper coins, 250 wood, 500 stone, and 50 iron ingots, increasing daily output to 90 units and providing 5 additional jobs.

After activating two small wood cards and gathering enough wood resources, Yang Fei spent 800 copper coins, 400 units of ordinary wood, 800 units of ordinary stone, and 80 iron ingots to upgrade all his quarries to level 3. The two types of resource buildings corresponded to each other to some extent, which made him feel more at ease.

After upgrading all the buildings that needed upgrading, Yang Fei and the two succubus girls took a good look around. The appearance of the lumberyard and quarry had not changed much, except that the number of logging axes and mining picks on the outer walls had increased accordingly.

It seems that the principle of this resource-based building, which resembles logging and quarrying in another dimension, is similar to that of the Lost Jungle Secret Realm. The entrance to the secret realm has not changed much, but the interior and output have been completely transformed.

As for the well, because it is now of gray quality, its appearance has undergone some fundamental changes, just like the thatched hut and the small wooden house. The original open-air well is now covered by a small pavilion, and a set of rope devices for drawing water and several buckets that were not there before have appeared next to it. The well opening has also been enlarged, and the water inside seems to be clearer and the depth inside has also increased.

Yang Fei drew a bucket of water and, after careful observation, confirmed his guess. As the quality of the well improved, the water was not only cleaner, but it also contained trace amounts of true energy, becoming a cultivation resource. This should be more beneficial for the cultivation and irrigation of the Sky Island's inhabitants.

Having lost the urge to try again, Yang Fei was exhausted. After having several lesser demons take turns guarding the well, he led Mona and Lola toward his cabin. The day had been long enough; it was time to rest.

Seeing the two succubus girls getting increasingly excited, Yang Fei was speechless. Then, remembering that he had to get up early for a big battle tomorrow, he didn't want to say anything more. What was going on every day?

To Yang Fei's surprise, when he returned to the front of his cabin, a graceful figure was already waiting there. Yang Fei frowned and looked at the elf girl Vera Nair in front of him.

"Why aren't you resting?" Looking at the pitch-black void outside, with only countless stars illuminating the entire sky island, Yang Fei couldn't help but ask the question directly.

Even elves should know to rest at night, right? Why are you still waiting here so late? Besides, she has some injuries on her body.

"Master, some of our people have been less seriously injured and are now able to participate in the defense of the city. Please assign us tasks so that we can better repay your life-saving grace. Also, please give us the opportunity to accumulate merits, earn money, and save more of our people."

Vera Nair spoke slowly, her attitude and tone no longer showing the cautiousness and trembling she had before, but instead filled with respect for Lord Yang Fei.

"I remember my orders for you at this stage were to focus on recovering from your injuries. As for participating in the war, we can consider it later. Didn't you understand?" Yang Fei spoke without any expression or emotion.

An order is an order. Even though these elves inexplicably became his die-hard fans and he learned that they could control the crossbow bolts on the arrow towers, Yang Fei still didn't want to change his plans.

At least for the next five-times-maximum monster siege, which is tomorrow, they can still rest. After they exchange for some white-quality charging stones tomorrow, these elves can go into battle when the monster siege reaches ten times the maximum the day after tomorrow.

"Master~" Hearing Yang Fei's emotionless words, Vera Nair was somewhat frightened and hurriedly tried to explain, but Yang Fei did not give her a chance to continue speaking: "Alright, go back and rest. I will do my best to save your people. This is my promise to you. As long as you work hard, this promise will always be valid, even if it is fulfilled ahead of schedule, so you don't need to worry."