Chapter 40
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When Ben entered the store, he locked the door behind him and walked up to the second floor and found it was now empty. He also went upstairs to the third floor and found it was just about cleared out as well.
'It looks like by tomorrow, Remi should have this place completely clear of all his stuff.'
Down in the basement, Ben activated his Night Sight and left the lights off so that he could raise its level. When he was now able see around the room, Ben began to build the workshops that would use the resources being grown at the farms outside the city.
He had a list of things to build so he went down to the lower second floor and began to place them down. When he was done he had a [Weaver], [Silk weaver], [Tailor], [Seamstress], [Ink Maker], [Printery], [Vinegar Factory], [Glycerin Factory], [Plastics Factory], [Rubber Factory], [Nylon Factory], and a [Shoemaker].
[Weaver]: Produces fabrics. Many styles to choose from. It is possible to design custom patterns. [Locked until; built hemp plantation or cotton plantation]
[consumes: hemp-cotton-wool-nylon-plastic] [requires:stone, wood]
[Silk Weaver]: Produces silk fabric. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own silk fabric.[Locked until: built Plantation: Mulberry/silkworm] [consumes: silkworm cocoon, dyes] [requires: stone, wood]
[Tailor]: Produces Male attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus or even design your own clothing. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. [Locked until; built weaver] [consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, steel, precious metals ] [requires: stone, wood]
[Seamstress]: Produces female attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. [Locked until; weaver] [consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, precious metals ] [requires: stone, wood]
[Ink Maker]: Produces ink for printing or writing. Uses blackberries and water to produce ink.[Locked until; built blackberry farm-apple orchard] [consumes: water-apple vinegar-blackberry] [requires:stone, wood]
[Printery]: Produces books and other printed materials. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own books. [Locked until; built ink maker, paper mill, tannery] [consumes: paper, ink, leather] [requires: stone, wood]
[Auto_Notice] [The system has advanced a level! System Level 14!]
[Vinegar Factory]: Produces vinegar from lemons or apples.
[consumes: lemons- apples- water] [Locked until: built orchard: apples or tropical orchard: lemons] [requires: stone-wood]
[Glycerin Factory]: Produces glycerin.
[locked until: built plantation: olive tree-tropical orchard: coconut-lye lab-research center]
[consumes: olive oil-coconut oil-lye] [requires: stone-wood]
[Nylon Plant]: Produces units of nylon. [Locked until: built research center-plastics]
[consumes: plastic-oil] [requires:stone, wood]
[Plastics Factory]: Produces units of plastic.
[consumes: water- glycerin- vinegar] [Locked until: built apple orchard-vegetable farm-research center] [requires: stone-wood]
[Rubber Factory]: Uses sap gathered from rubber trees to produce units of rubber.
[ Locked until; built tree plantation: rubber tree] [consumes: rubber tree sap] [requires: stone-wood]
Shoemaker: Produces dress shoes, high heels, sandals, sneakers/running shoes, boots, loafers, and flats. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own shoes. [Locked until; built tannery] [consumes: wood, leather, plastic, rubber, steel, cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, nylon, wool, chosen metals] [requires: stone, wood]
Ben spent what little money he had from yesterday along with today's sales and still had to sell off some of his extra resources to the System Store to pay for the huge list of things he built today.
The most depressing part for him was half of the structures he built would only provide more resources for the workshops.
These extra resources like rubber, plastic, and nylon would allow him to build more items at least. They would also open the door for more advanced products in the future.
Once the system had everything built, Ben went around the room and began to set up the production for them all. He chose clothing for men and women from both Earth and Victus to produce. Almost all the clothes were upscale clothing that would be affordable to even some commoners. He used patterns and colors not seen in the drab clothes worn by everyone on this continent
There were also leather shoes, leather sandals, running shoes with rubber soles, military boots, hiking boots, high heels, of all different materials and styles and colors to choose from.
He also bought twenty different types of books to teach people to read. From babies to elementary grade students that he scanned into the Printery workshop and had it begin to reproduce them with decorative leather book covers and colorful artwork that mimicked the original lessons.
Ben had done everything that he could for tonight so he headed upstairs to turn off the showroom lights. When he deactivated his Night Sight and began to walk upstairs, he thought that heard the sound of glass breaking.
Thinking that someone might be breaking in Ben quickly equipped his armor, sword, bow, and quiver. Activating [Silent Movement] and [Chameleon], Ben made his way directly toward the front door with his sword in hand.
He told the system to mark any hostile people around the store and looked at his mini-map as he came out of the storage room. There were no red dots indicating enemies in the area, but when he got to the front door he found it had been shattered.
Ben unlocked the door and activated [Enhanced Hearing] and [Night Sight], but had no luck finding anyone in the area. When he looked at the front of his store there is splashed red paint and red painted words on it.
Sloppily written across the storefront read;
"Don't buy from foreigners!"
"Remi's accomplice! Boycott the Spirit King store!"
"Buying here will only aid the bandits who plague our kingdom!"
'What the hell is this all about? Someone is targeting my store? Why would they even bother painting this crap on my store when eighty percent of the population are illiterate? Is it a ploy to try and scare me off somehow?'
Ben began to think of who might have been responsible for this. When he thought about all the money, he had been making it must be hurting other businesses and making some people angry.
Because he was a noble and a cultivator they could not outright attack him or openly slander him. If they did Ben would defend his honor and challenge them to a duel in which they would die easily.
Ben opened the Build Menu and used it to simply apply white paint over the red painted words on his storefront. When he finalized it the store looked like nothing had happened.
There were a few large rocks by the picture windows and it looked like they tried to break them, but the glass was so thick the rocks rebounded off of it. Ben replaced the glass on the door and went back inside and locked the door.
After he turned the lights off he sat down against the back entrance wall in the dark and began to cultivate. He wanted to stay close to the door encase they came back, so he could catch whoever did this.
The night went by without any more trouble, so Ben left his store at the usual time and walked over to his vendor stalls. What he found made him angry. His sign had been pulled down and smashed into pieces along with all three of the vendor stalls he rented.
He did not even own those stalls, but someone wanted him to not sell anything today and possibly have to pay for the broken stalls.
Ben picked up all the broken lumber shards into his inventory and bought a few more nails and a tape measure from the System Store. He took the measurements from a neighboring vendor stall and used his hand saw to make all the cuts.
With plenty of wood planks available to him, he could just rebuild his stalls. Having to rebuild the stalls delayed his opening and he had just finished and began to put everything out when Cordelia showed up.
[Notice] [Profession: Carpenter has increased! Carpenter Level 6!]
[Notice] [Profession: Furniture Maker has increased! Furniture Maker Level 5!]
Ben explained what had happened and asked her to go home for the day. Ben was unsure if the people responsible were watching him and he did not want her to become a target since they could not go after him.
"I refuse to be scared off by thugs! Anyway, you are going to take care of them right?" Cordelia asked with a smirk.
"Oh, you can count on it. The next time they come snooping around I will be ready for them." Ben said with a tone of hostility in his voice.
"Good, then there is nothing for me to worry about. Let's finish setting up before the customers begin to arrive."
Ben just shook his head and chuckled while thinking. Cordelia sure is a strong-willed girl especially seeing the era she lives in.
'I guess this is how a woman got to be a floor manager of one of the biggest stores in Goldcrest at the time.' Ben thought as he began to once again pretend he was removing goods from his fake interspatial ring.
They had another great day of sales and after they closed, Ben walked Cordelia home to make sure nothing happened to her. He was careful to watch his mini-map and make sure they were not followed to her home.
Ben introduced himself to her mother and promptly left with an excuse after a short barrage of questions. Ben could see why Cordelia was eager to get out of the house. Her mother was a nice lady but she came across as one of the types that has to know everything and gossip about it later.Back on Earth she would have been called a busybody by the neighbors.
On the way back to the shop Ben kept watch on his minimap still and it seemed, for now, the culprits were lying low.
In his store, Ben went into the basement and had the Tailor scan him while we wore his armor. He used the measurements to make a what looked like a dull black rubber wetsuit that zipped up in the front.
Ben equipped it when it was created and it fit snugly over his armor and helmet. His shiny armor was now covered leaving only his feet, hands, and face exposed.
Ben left all the lights off in the store and moved around using his Night Sight. He went up to the third floor and made a small concrete and rebar room 5ft x 5ft with a solid steel security door.
Inside the secure room, he attached a wooden tower ladder to the wall and installed a locking steel trap door that opened up to the roof.
Ben climbed the ladder and went up onto the store roof and activated Chameleon and Silent Movement. Ben had the system mark anyone out walking the streets with orange dots and kept an eye on his Minimap to know if anyone approached his store.
Sitting in the dark shadows on the roof waiting to see if anyone showed up, Ben began to browse through the spells for sale through the System Store.
He found one that seemed like it would be perfect for the trap he was setting for his vandals.
[Sleep]: Any person or creature within 30 feet of where the spell was cast will be put to sleep if your Intelligence is higher than theirs. Spell duration 1 minute. The spell radius and duration will increase with level. [ Five-second cast time and can't be cast while in combat!]
'The long cast time on this spell gives an enemy plenty of time to attack or run. I can't use it if I am already fighting but if I use it as an ambush spell then they are done for.'
Ben bought the [Sleep] spell along with a black nylon pouch full of zip tie cuffs that hung from a black nylon belt on his waist. He had seen law enforcement use these zip cuffs before and they looked handy for quickly securing a lot of people.
He was now prepared for his nighttime visitors even though he did not think they would return the following night.
Even though, he waited all night they never returned which was smart on their part. It was better to wait a day or two before when returning to a place you attacked this way those that you attacked would eventually let their guards down.
Ben had no intention of letting his guard down though, he could stay up for a week straight before, he even began to feel tired, so when they chose to return he would be waiting to welcome them.
When Ben went to where his vendor stalls were, he opened his inventory and placed them back where they had been. He learned his lesson last time and would not leave them behind to be damaged again.
It was still early in the morning so he decided to remake his sign and hang it back up. When he finished hanging the sign he opened the flashing notification icon.
[Notice] [Profession: Sign Maker has increased! Sign Maker Level 2!]
Today Ben put out the newly produced footwear and a wider selection of clothes. It was to the point now that his vendor stalls were full and he also had shelves behind his stalls full of products as well. It had gone from selling food to now having a small outdoor store now.
Cordelia was once again a huge help and she was at the point where she knew the products and didn't even have to ask Ben any more questions.
At the end of the day, Ben walked Cordelia home even when she claimed she would be fine. He was smart to say goodbye to her and head out before her mother realized she was home. After yesterday's questions, he was positive that her mother would have a whole new list of questions for him today and he wanted to escape before she could even get started.
Instead of heading directly to the store Ben went off to look for a couple stores Cordelia told him about. There were two pill stores in the city and, Ben wanted to buy some so he could scan them into his Pharmacist back at the fortress.
Once he scanned any pill the Pharmacist could make them if he had the proper ingredients.
The first Pill house was the one he originally visited. It was a tiny store with a small selection of below average pills. He bought anything that had to do with cultivating or magic that they sold. Even if, their pills were crappy he was sure the system would make improvements to them.
The second pill house was larger and not only did it sell pills, but there were herbs, spirit plants, spirit fruits, low-level animal cores, and even a few pill cauldrons. Ben went around the store and bought a little of everything. Even if the plants, herbs, and fruits were dried out or old, the system could still scan them and add it to the database allowing him to grow it on his spirit farm.
Between the two stores, Ben spent 1067g and knew now why his spirit food was so popular. Even a cultivator would have a hard time buying pills and ingredients with these outrageous prices.
For the common people who dream of possibly unleashing their latent talents with spirit plants and pills, it was out of the question. They would need to work for a year to buy a couple of these pills. Now that Ben was offering food that could provide similar benefits he understood why they were all going crazy over it.
Back at his store, Ben began to remodel the second floor to mirror the first floor while keeping his Enhanced Hearing activated and his mini-map open. Just like the first floor, he split the large room up into sectioned off rooms that would be used as departments to sell his goods.
With the trouble from the attack on the store, Ben began to think about making a small living area on the third floor for guards. Who knew even if he settled this problem if another one would spring up in time.
So when he finished remodeling the second floor he split the third floor in half and made a good sized living area with ten small bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen area. Ben put out some nice furniture being made by the Furniture Maker.
He even scaled down a Market and placed it off in a corner of the living area. This would allow the guards to remove food and cookware through the market when they needed it.
The kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and living area were all fully furnished and had all the appliances they would need to live above the store. By the time he had set this third-floor living area up like a large modern apartment with ten bedrooms, it was beginning to get late.
Ben once again climbed the ladder and crawled through the trap door to the roof and sat in the darkness waiting for his nighttime visitors to return.
About an hour before sunrise Ben decided to give up watching for the returning vandals. He assumed if they were going to strike it would be during the night when there was less chance of being spotted or worse being recognized.
He removed the black rubber stealth suit, his weapons, and armor and replaced it with the formal nobility clothes he had recently made.
Ben went down into the basement and began to make a lower basement third floor. The walls were made three-feet thick with concrete/rebar and were positioned so that the upper floor walls were resting on the center of them. This would provide much more support for the upper walls.
Along the far wall away from the staircase, Ben built twenty 6ft x 6ft rooms. Under security, he found steel bar doors with fingerprint recognition locks. These doors were like jail cell doors and were exactly what he needed.
In the middle of each concrete room, he placed a six-inch wide drain connected to the Waste Treatment structure upstairs.
With twenty little cells now built deep underground anyone who came around to cause trouble would find themselves locked up down here until he decided how to deal with them.
Right before, he went back upstairs he thought of one more thing to add. He attached a large high-pressure facet to the wall with a heavy duty hose. This way he could spray out the cells to clean them and hose down the prisoners if needed. With the different adjustments, it could spray out a gentle stream or blast out the water hard enough to sweep someone off of their feet.
'The sun should be coming up about now, I should head over to the market and get set up for the day.' Ben surmised as he went upstairs and left the store.
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When Ben entered the store, he locked the door behind him and walked up to the second floor and found it was now empty. He also went upstairs to the third floor and found it was just about cleared out as well.
'It looks like by tomorrow, Remi should have this place completely clear of all his stuff.'
Down in the basement, Ben activated his Night Sight and left the lights off so that he could raise its level. When he was now able see around the room, Ben began to build the workshops that would use the resources being grown at the farms outside the city.
He had a list of things to build so he went down to the lower second floor and began to place them down. When he was done he had a [Weaver], [Silk weaver], [Tailor], [Seamstress], [Ink Maker], [Printery], [Vinegar Factory], [Glycerin Factory], [Plastics Factory], [Rubber Factory], [Nylon Factory], and a [Shoemaker].
[Weaver]: Produces fabrics. Many styles to choose from. It is possible to design custom patterns. [Locked until; built hemp plantation or cotton plantation]
[consumes: hemp-cotton-wool-nylon-plastic] [requires:stone, wood]
[Silk Weaver]: Produces silk fabric. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own silk fabric.[Locked until: built Plantation: Mulberry/silkworm] [consumes: silkworm cocoon, dyes] [requires: stone, wood]
[Tailor]: Produces Male attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus or even design your own clothing. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. [Locked until; built weaver] [consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, steel, precious metals ] [requires: stone, wood]
[Seamstress]: Produces female attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. [Locked until; weaver] [consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, precious metals ] [requires: stone, wood]
[Ink Maker]: Produces ink for printing or writing. Uses blackberries and water to produce ink.[Locked until; built blackberry farm-apple orchard] [consumes: water-apple vinegar-blackberry] [requires:stone, wood]
[Printery]: Produces books and other printed materials. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own books. [Locked until; built ink maker, paper mill, tannery] [consumes: paper, ink, leather] [requires: stone, wood]
[Auto_Notice] [The system has advanced a level! System Level 14!]
[Vinegar Factory]: Produces vinegar from lemons or apples.
[consumes: lemons- apples- water] [Locked until: built orchard: apples or tropical orchard: lemons] [requires: stone-wood]
[Glycerin Factory]: Produces glycerin.
[locked until: built plantation: olive tree-tropical orchard: coconut-lye lab-research center]
[consumes: olive oil-coconut oil-lye] [requires: stone-wood]
[Nylon Plant]: Produces units of nylon. [Locked until: built research center-plastics]
[consumes: plastic-oil] [requires:stone, wood]
[Plastics Factory]: Produces units of plastic.
[consumes: water- glycerin- vinegar] [Locked until: built apple orchard-vegetable farm-research center] [requires: stone-wood]
[Rubber Factory]: Uses sap gathered from rubber trees to produce units of rubber.
[ Locked until; built tree plantation: rubber tree] [consumes: rubber tree sap] [requires: stone-wood]
Shoemaker: Produces dress shoes, high heels, sandals, sneakers/running shoes, boots, loafers, and flats. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own shoes. [Locked until; built tannery] [consumes: wood, leather, plastic, rubber, steel, cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, nylon, wool, chosen metals] [requires: stone, wood]
Ben spent what little money he had from yesterday along with today's sales and still had to sell off some of his extra resources to the System Store to pay for the huge list of things he built today.
The most depressing part for him was half of the structures he built would only provide more resources for the workshops.
These extra resources like rubber, plastic, and nylon would allow him to build more items at least. They would also open the door for more advanced products in the future.
Once the system had everything built, Ben went around the room and began to set up the production for them all. He chose clothing for men and women from both Earth and Victus to produce. Almost all the clothes were upscale clothing that would be affordable to even some commoners. He used patterns and colors not seen in the drab clothes worn by everyone on this continent
There were also leather shoes, leather sandals, running shoes with rubber soles, military boots, hiking boots, high heels, of all different materials and styles and colors to choose from.
He also bought twenty different types of books to teach people to read. From babies to elementary grade students that he scanned into the Printery workshop and had it begin to reproduce them with decorative leather book covers and colorful artwork that mimicked the original lessons.
Ben had done everything that he could for tonight so he headed upstairs to turn off the showroom lights. When he deactivated his Night Sight and began to walk upstairs, he thought that heard the sound of glass breaking.
Thinking that someone might be breaking in Ben quickly equipped his armor, sword, bow, and quiver. Activating [Silent Movement] and [Chameleon], Ben made his way directly toward the front door with his sword in hand.
He told the system to mark any hostile people around the store and looked at his mini-map as he came out of the storage room. There were no red dots indicating enemies in the area, but when he got to the front door he found it had been shattered.
Ben unlocked the door and activated [Enhanced Hearing] and [Night Sight], but had no luck finding anyone in the area. When he looked at the front of his store there is splashed red paint and red painted words on it.
Sloppily written across the storefront read;
"Don't buy from foreigners!"
"Remi's accomplice! Boycott the Spirit King store!"
"Buying here will only aid the bandits who plague our kingdom!"
'What the hell is this all about? Someone is targeting my store? Why would they even bother painting this crap on my store when eighty percent of the population are illiterate? Is it a ploy to try and scare me off somehow?'
Ben began to think of who might have been responsible for this. When he thought about all the money, he had been making it must be hurting other businesses and making some people angry.
Because he was a noble and a cultivator they could not outright attack him or openly slander him. If they did Ben would defend his honor and challenge them to a duel in which they would die easily.
Ben opened the Build Menu and used it to simply apply white paint over the red painted words on his storefront. When he finalized it the store looked like nothing had happened.
There were a few large rocks by the picture windows and it looked like they tried to break them, but the glass was so thick the rocks rebounded off of it. Ben replaced the glass on the door and went back inside and locked the door.
After he turned the lights off he sat down against the back entrance wall in the dark and began to cultivate. He wanted to stay close to the door encase they came back, so he could catch whoever did this.
The night went by without any more trouble, so Ben left his store at the usual time and walked over to his vendor stalls. What he found made him angry. His sign had been pulled down and smashed into pieces along with all three of the vendor stalls he rented.
He did not even own those stalls, but someone wanted him to not sell anything today and possibly have to pay for the broken stalls.
Ben picked up all the broken lumber shards into his inventory and bought a few more nails and a tape measure from the System Store. He took the measurements from a neighboring vendor stall and used his hand saw to make all the cuts.
With plenty of wood planks available to him, he could just rebuild his stalls. Having to rebuild the stalls delayed his opening and he had just finished and began to put everything out when Cordelia showed up.
[Notice] [Profession: Carpenter has increased! Carpenter Level 6!]
[Notice] [Profession: Furniture Maker has increased! Furniture Maker Level 5!]
Ben explained what had happened and asked her to go home for the day. Ben was unsure if the people responsible were watching him and he did not want her to become a target since they could not go after him.
"I refuse to be scared off by thugs! Anyway, you are going to take care of them right?" Cordelia asked with a smirk.
"Oh, you can count on it. The next time they come snooping around I will be ready for them." Ben said with a tone of hostility in his voice.
"Good, then there is nothing for me to worry about. Let's finish setting up before the customers begin to arrive."
Ben just shook his head and chuckled while thinking. Cordelia sure is a strong-willed girl especially seeing the era she lives in.
'I guess this is how a woman got to be a floor manager of one of the biggest stores in Goldcrest at the time.' Ben thought as he began to once again pretend he was removing goods from his fake interspatial ring.
They had another great day of sales and after they closed, Ben walked Cordelia home to make sure nothing happened to her. He was careful to watch his mini-map and make sure they were not followed to her home.
Ben introduced himself to her mother and promptly left with an excuse after a short barrage of questions. Ben could see why Cordelia was eager to get out of the house. Her mother was a nice lady but she came across as one of the types that has to know everything and gossip about it later.Back on Earth she would have been called a busybody by the neighbors.
On the way back to the shop Ben kept watch on his minimap still and it seemed, for now, the culprits were lying low.
In his store, Ben went into the basement and had the Tailor scan him while we wore his armor. He used the measurements to make a what looked like a dull black rubber wetsuit that zipped up in the front.
Ben equipped it when it was created and it fit snugly over his armor and helmet. His shiny armor was now covered leaving only his feet, hands, and face exposed.
Ben left all the lights off in the store and moved around using his Night Sight. He went up to the third floor and made a small concrete and rebar room 5ft x 5ft with a solid steel security door.
Inside the secure room, he attached a wooden tower ladder to the wall and installed a locking steel trap door that opened up to the roof.
Ben climbed the ladder and went up onto the store roof and activated Chameleon and Silent Movement. Ben had the system mark anyone out walking the streets with orange dots and kept an eye on his Minimap to know if anyone approached his store.
Sitting in the dark shadows on the roof waiting to see if anyone showed up, Ben began to browse through the spells for sale through the System Store.
He found one that seemed like it would be perfect for the trap he was setting for his vandals.
[Sleep]: Any person or creature within 30 feet of where the spell was cast will be put to sleep if your Intelligence is higher than theirs. Spell duration 1 minute. The spell radius and duration will increase with level. [ Five-second cast time and can't be cast while in combat!]
'The long cast time on this spell gives an enemy plenty of time to attack or run. I can't use it if I am already fighting but if I use it as an ambush spell then they are done for.'
Ben bought the [Sleep] spell along with a black nylon pouch full of zip tie cuffs that hung from a black nylon belt on his waist. He had seen law enforcement use these zip cuffs before and they looked handy for quickly securing a lot of people.
He was now prepared for his nighttime visitors even though he did not think they would return the following night.
Even though, he waited all night they never returned which was smart on their part. It was better to wait a day or two before when returning to a place you attacked this way those that you attacked would eventually let their guards down.
Ben had no intention of letting his guard down though, he could stay up for a week straight before, he even began to feel tired, so when they chose to return he would be waiting to welcome them.
When Ben went to where his vendor stalls were, he opened his inventory and placed them back where they had been. He learned his lesson last time and would not leave them behind to be damaged again.
It was still early in the morning so he decided to remake his sign and hang it back up. When he finished hanging the sign he opened the flashing notification icon.
[Notice] [Profession: Sign Maker has increased! Sign Maker Level 2!]
Today Ben put out the newly produced footwear and a wider selection of clothes. It was to the point now that his vendor stalls were full and he also had shelves behind his stalls full of products as well. It had gone from selling food to now having a small outdoor store now.
Cordelia was once again a huge help and she was at the point where she knew the products and didn't even have to ask Ben any more questions.
At the end of the day, Ben walked Cordelia home even when she claimed she would be fine. He was smart to say goodbye to her and head out before her mother realized she was home. After yesterday's questions, he was positive that her mother would have a whole new list of questions for him today and he wanted to escape before she could even get started.
Instead of heading directly to the store Ben went off to look for a couple stores Cordelia told him about. There were two pill stores in the city and, Ben wanted to buy some so he could scan them into his Pharmacist back at the fortress.
Once he scanned any pill the Pharmacist could make them if he had the proper ingredients.
The first Pill house was the one he originally visited. It was a tiny store with a small selection of below average pills. He bought anything that had to do with cultivating or magic that they sold. Even if, their pills were crappy he was sure the system would make improvements to them.
The second pill house was larger and not only did it sell pills, but there were herbs, spirit plants, spirit fruits, low-level animal cores, and even a few pill cauldrons. Ben went around the store and bought a little of everything. Even if the plants, herbs, and fruits were dried out or old, the system could still scan them and add it to the database allowing him to grow it on his spirit farm.
Between the two stores, Ben spent 1067g and knew now why his spirit food was so popular. Even a cultivator would have a hard time buying pills and ingredients with these outrageous prices.
For the common people who dream of possibly unleashing their latent talents with spirit plants and pills, it was out of the question. They would need to work for a year to buy a couple of these pills. Now that Ben was offering food that could provide similar benefits he understood why they were all going crazy over it.
Back at his store, Ben began to remodel the second floor to mirror the first floor while keeping his Enhanced Hearing activated and his mini-map open. Just like the first floor, he split the large room up into sectioned off rooms that would be used as departments to sell his goods.
With the trouble from the attack on the store, Ben began to think about making a small living area on the third floor for guards. Who knew even if he settled this problem if another one would spring up in time.
So when he finished remodeling the second floor he split the third floor in half and made a good sized living area with ten small bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen area. Ben put out some nice furniture being made by the Furniture Maker.
He even scaled down a Market and placed it off in a corner of the living area. This would allow the guards to remove food and cookware through the market when they needed it.
The kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and living area were all fully furnished and had all the appliances they would need to live above the store. By the time he had set this third-floor living area up like a large modern apartment with ten bedrooms, it was beginning to get late.
Ben once again climbed the ladder and crawled through the trap door to the roof and sat in the darkness waiting for his nighttime visitors to return.
About an hour before sunrise Ben decided to give up watching for the returning vandals. He assumed if they were going to strike it would be during the night when there was less chance of being spotted or worse being recognized.
He removed the black rubber stealth suit, his weapons, and armor and replaced it with the formal nobility clothes he had recently made.
Ben went down into the basement and began to make a lower basement third floor. The walls were made three-feet thick with concrete/rebar and were positioned so that the upper floor walls were resting on the center of them. This would provide much more support for the upper walls.
Along the far wall away from the staircase, Ben built twenty 6ft x 6ft rooms. Under security, he found steel bar doors with fingerprint recognition locks. These doors were like jail cell doors and were exactly what he needed.
In the middle of each concrete room, he placed a six-inch wide drain connected to the Waste Treatment structure upstairs.
With twenty little cells now built deep underground anyone who came around to cause trouble would find themselves locked up down here until he decided how to deal with them.
Right before, he went back upstairs he thought of one more thing to add. He attached a large high-pressure facet to the wall with a heavy duty hose. This way he could spray out the cells to clean them and hose down the prisoners if needed. With the different adjustments, it could spray out a gentle stream or blast out the water hard enough to sweep someone off of their feet.
'The sun should be coming up about now, I should head over to the market and get set up for the day.' Ben surmised as he went upstairs and left the store.
When Ben entered the store, he locked the door behind him and walked up to the second floor and found it was now empty. He also went upstairs to the third floor and found it was just about cleared out as well.'It looks like by tomorrow, Remi should have this place completely clear of all his stuff.'Down in the basement, Ben activated his Night Sight and left the lights off so that he could raise its level. When he was now able see around the room, Ben began to build the workshops that would use the resources being grown at the farms outside the city.He had a list of things to build so he went down to the lower second floor and began to place them down. When he was done he had a Weaver, Silk weaver, Tailor, Seamstress, Ink Maker, Printery, Vinegar Factory, Glycerin Factory, Plastics Factory, Rubber Factory, Nylon Factory, and a Shoemaker.Weaver: Produces fabrics. Many styles to choose from. It is possible to design custom patterns. Locked until; built hemp plantation or cotton plantationconsumes: hemp-cotton-wool-nylon-plastic requires:stone, woodSilk Weaver: Produces silk fabric. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own silk fabric.Locked until: built Plantation: Mulberry/silkworm consumes: silkworm cocoon, dyes requires: stone, woodTailor: Produces Male attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus or even design your own clothing. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. Locked until; built weaver consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, steel, precious metals requires: stone, woodSeamstress: Produces female attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. Locked until; weaver consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, precious metals requires: stone, woodInk Maker: Produces ink for printing or writing. Uses blackberries and water to produce ink.Locked until; built blackberry farm-apple orchard consumes: water-apple vinegar-blackberry requires:stone, woodPrintery: Produces books and other printed materials. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own books. Locked until; built ink maker, paper mill, tannery consumes: paper, ink, leather requires: stone, woodAuto_Notice The system has advanced a level! System Level 14!Vinegar Factory: Produces vinegar from lemons or apples.consumes: lemons- apples- water Locked until: built orchard: apples or tropical orchard: lemons requires: stone-woodGlycerin Factory: Produces glycerin.locked until: built plantation: olive tree-tropical orchard: coconut-lye lab-research centerconsumes: olive oil-coconut oil-lye requires: stone-woodNylon Plant: Produces units of nylon. Locked until: built research center-plasticsconsumes: plastic-oil requires:stone, woodPlastics Factory: Produces units of plastic.consumes: water- glycerin- vinegar Locked until: built apple orchard-vegetable farm-research center requires: stone-woodRubber Factory: Uses sap gathered from rubber trees to produce units of rubber. Locked until; built tree plantation: rubber tree consumes: rubber tree sap requires: stone-woodShoemaker: Produces dress shoes, high heels, sandals, sneakers/running shoes, boots, loafers, and flats. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own shoes. Locked until; built tannery consumes: wood, leather, plastic, rubber, steel, cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, nylon, wool, chosen metals requires: stone, woodBen spent what little money he had from yesterday along with today's sales and still had to sell off some of his extra resources to the System Store to pay for the huge list of things he built today.The most depressing part for him was half of the structures he built would only provide more resources for the workshops.These extra resources like rubber, plastic, and nylon would allow him to build more items at least. They would also open the door for more advanced products in the future.Once the system had everything built, Ben went around the room and began to set up the production for them all. He chose clothing for men and women from both Earth and Victus to produce. Almost all the clothes were upscale clothing that would be affordable to even some commoners. He used patterns and colors not seen in the drab clothes worn by everyone on this continentThere were also leather shoes, leather sandals, running shoes with rubber soles, military boots, hiking boots, high heels, of all different materials and styles and colors to choose from.He also bought twenty different types of books to teach people to read. From babies to elementary grade students that he scanned into the Printery workshop and had it begin to reproduce them with decorative leather book covers and colorful artwork that mimicked the original lessons.Ben had done everything that he could for tonight so he headed upstairs to turn off the showroom lights. When he deactivated his Night Sight and began to walk upstairs, he thought that heard the sound of glass breaking.Thinking that someone might be breaking in Ben quickly equipped his armor, sword, bow, and quiver. Activating Silent Movement and Chameleon, Ben made his way directly toward the front door with his sword in hand.He told the system to mark any hostile people around the store and looked at his mini-map as he came out of the storage room. There were no red dots indicating enemies in the area, but when he got to the front door he found it had been shattered.Ben unlocked the door and activated Enhanced Hearing and Night Sight, but had no luck finding anyone in the area. When he looked at the front of his store there is splashed red paint and red painted words on it.Sloppily written across the storefront read;"Don't buy from foreigners!""Remi's accomplice! Boycott the Spirit King store!""Buying here will only aid the bandits who plague our kingdom!"'What the hell is this all about? Someone is targeting my store? Why would they even bother painting this crap on my store when eighty percent of the population are illiterate? Is it a ploy to try and scare me off somehow?'Ben began to think of who might have been responsible for this. When he thought about all the money, he had been making it must be hurting other businesses and making some people angry.Because he was a noble and a cultivator they could not outright attack him or openly slander him. If they did Ben would defend his honor and challenge them to a duel in which they would die easily.Ben opened the Build Menu and used it to simply apply white paint over the red painted words on his storefront. When he finalized it the store looked like nothing had happened.There were a few large rocks by the picture windows and it looked like they tried to break them, but the glass was so thick the rocks rebounded off of it. Ben replaced the glass on the door and went back inside and locked the door.After he turned the lights off he sat down against the back entrance wall in the dark and began to cultivate. He wanted to stay close to the door encase they came back, so he could catch whoever did this.The night went by without any more trouble, so Ben left his store at the usual time and walked over to his vendor stalls. What he found made him angry. His sign had been pulled down and smashed into pieces along with all three of the vendor stalls he rented.He did not even own those stalls, but someone wanted him to not sell anything today and possibly have to pay for the broken stalls.Ben picked up all the broken lumber shards into his inventory and bought a few more nails and a tape measure from the System Store. He took the measurements from a neighboring vendor stall and used his hand saw to make all the cuts.With plenty of wood planks available to him, he could just rebuild his stalls. Having to rebuild the stalls delayed his opening and he had just finished and began to put everything out when Cordelia showed up.Notice Profession: Carpenter has increased! Carpenter Level 6!Notice Profession: Furniture Maker has increased! Furniture Maker Level 5!Ben explained what had happened and asked her to go home for the day. Ben was unsure if the people responsible were watching him and he did not want her to become a target since they could not go after him."I refuse to be scared off by thugs! Anyway, you are going to take care of them right?" Cordelia asked with a smirk."Oh, you can count on it. The next time they come snooping around I will be ready for them." Ben said with a tone of hostility in his voice."Good, then there is nothing for me to worry about. Let's finish setting up before the customers begin to arrive."Ben just shook his head and chuckled while thinking. Cordelia sure is a strong-willed girl especially seeing the era she lives in.'I guess this is how a woman got to be a floor manager of one of the biggest stores in Goldcrest at the time.' Ben thought as he began to once again pretend he was removing goods from his fake interspatial ring.They had another great day of sales and after they closed, Ben walked Cordelia home to make sure nothing happened to her. He was careful to watch his mini-map and make sure they were not followed to her home.Ben introduced himself to her mother and promptly left with an excuse after a short barrage of questions. Ben could see why Cordelia was eager to get out of the house. Her mother was a nice lady but she came across as one of the types that has to know everything and gossip about it later.Back on Earth she would have been called a busybody by the neighbors.On the way back to the shop Ben kept watch on his minimap still and it seemed, for now, the culprits were lying low.In his store, Ben went into the basement and had the Tailor scan him while we wore his armor. He used the measurements to make a what looked like a dull black rubber wetsuit that zipped up in the front.Ben equipped it when it was created and it fit snugly over his armor and helmet. His shiny armor was now covered leaving only his feet, hands, and face exposed.Ben left all the lights off in the store and moved around using his Night Sight. He went up to the third floor and made a small concrete and rebar room 5ft x 5ft with a solid steel security door.Inside the secure room, he attached a wooden tower ladder to the wall and installed a locking steel trap door that opened up to the roof.Ben climbed the ladder and went up onto the store roof and activated Chameleon and Silent Movement. Ben had the system mark anyone out walking the streets with orange dots and kept an eye on his Minimap to know if anyone approached his store.Sitting in the dark shadows on the roof waiting to see if anyone showed up, Ben began to browse through the spells for sale through the System Store.He found one that seemed like it would be perfect for the trap he was setting for his vandals.Sleep: Any person or creature within 30 feet of where the spell was cast will be put to sleep if your Intelligence is higher than theirs. Spell duration 1 minute. The spell radius and duration will increase with level. Five-second cast time and can't be cast while in combat!'The long cast time on this spell gives an enemy plenty of time to attack or run. I can't use it if I am already fighting but if I use it as an ambush spell then they are done for.'Ben bought the Sleep spell along with a black nylon pouch full of zip tie cuffs that hung from a black nylon belt on his waist. He had seen law enforcement use these zip cuffs before and they looked handy for quickly securing a lot of people.He was now prepared for his nighttime visitors even though he did not think they would return the following night.Even though, he waited all night they never returned which was smart on their part. It was better to wait a day or two before when returning to a place you attacked this way those that you attacked would eventually let their guards down.Ben had no intention of letting his guard down though, he could stay up for a week straight before, he even began to feel tired, so when they chose to return he would be waiting to welcome them.When Ben went to where his vendor stalls were, he opened his inventory and placed them back where they had been. He learned his lesson last time and would not leave them behind to be damaged again.It was still early in the morning so he decided to remake his sign and hang it back up. When he finished hanging the sign he opened the flashing notification icon.Notice Profession: Sign Maker has increased! Sign Maker Level 2!Today Ben put out the newly produced footwear and a wider selection of clothes. It was to the point now that his vendor stalls were full and he also had shelves behind his stalls full of products as well. It had gone from selling food to now having a small outdoor store now.Cordelia was once again a huge help and she was at the point where she knew the products and didn't even have to ask Ben any more questions.At the end of the day, Ben walked Cordelia home even when she claimed she would be fine. He was smart to say goodbye to her and head out before her mother realized she was home. After yesterday's questions, he was positive that her mother would have a whole new list of questions for him today and he wanted to escape before she could even get started.Instead of heading directly to the store Ben went off to look for a couple stores Cordelia told him about. There were two pill stores in the city and, Ben wanted to buy some so he could scan them into his Pharmacist back at the fortress.Once he scanned any pill the Pharmacist could make them if he had the proper ingredients.The first Pill house was the one he originally visited. It was a tiny store with a small selection of below average pills. He bought anything that had to do with cultivating or magic that they sold. Even if, their pills were crappy he was sure the system would make improvements to them.The second pill house was larger and not only did it sell pills, but there were herbs, spirit plants, spirit fruits, low-level animal cores, and even a few pill cauldrons. Ben went around the store and bought a little of everything. Even if the plants, herbs, and fruits were dried out or old, the system could still scan them and add it to the database allowing him to grow it on his spirit farm.Between the two stores, Ben spent 1067g and knew now why his spirit food was so popular. Even a cultivator would have a hard time buying pills and ingredients with these outrageous prices.For the common people who dream of possibly unleashing their latent talents with spirit plants and pills, it was out of the question. They would need to work for a year to buy a couple of these pills. Now that Ben was offering food that could provide similar benefits he understood why they were all going crazy over it.Back at his store, Ben began to remodel the second floor to mirror the first floor while keeping his Enhanced Hearing activated and his mini-map open. Just like the first floor, he split the large room up into sectioned off rooms that would be used as departments to sell his goods.With the trouble from the attack on the store, Ben began to think about making a small living area on the third floor for guards. Who knew even if he settled this problem if another one would spring up in time.So when he finished remodeling the second floor he split the third floor in half and made a good sized living area with ten small bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen area. Ben put out some nice furniture being made by the Furniture Maker.He even scaled down a Market and placed it off in a corner of the living area. This would allow the guards to remove food and cookware through the market when they needed it.The kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and living area were all fully furnished and had all the appliances they would need to live above the store. By the time he had set this third-floor living area up like a large modern apartment with ten bedrooms, it was beginning to get late.Ben once again climbed the ladder and crawled through the trap door to the roof and sat in the darkness waiting for his nighttime visitors to return.About an hour before sunrise Ben decided to give up watching for the returning vandals. He assumed if they were going to strike it would be during the night when there was less chance of being spotted or worse being recognized.He removed the black rubber stealth suit, his weapons, and armor and replaced it with the formal nobility clothes he had recently made.Ben went down into the basement and began to make a lower basement third floor. The walls were made three-feet thick with concrete/rebar and were positioned so that the upper floor walls were resting on the center of them. This would provide much more support for the upper walls.Along the far wall away from the staircase, Ben built twenty 6ft x 6ft rooms. Under security, he found steel bar doors with fingerprint recognition locks. These doors were like jail cell doors and were exactly what he needed.In the middle of each concrete room, he placed a six-inch wide drain connected to the Waste Treatment structure upstairs.With twenty little cells now built deep underground anyone who came around to cause trouble would find themselves locked up down here until he decided how to deal with them.Right before, he went back upstairs he thought of one more thing to add. He attached a large high-pressure facet to the wall with a heavy duty hose. This way he could spray out the cells to clean them and hose down the prisoners if needed. With the different adjustments, it could spray out a gentle stream or blast out the water hard enough to sweep someone off of their feet.'The sun should be coming up about now, I should head over to the market and get set up for the day.' Ben surmised as he went upstairs and left the store.
