Chương 67: Cave Expansion

Mark's next task was to upgrade cave camp and then set up settlement tasks. He had almost reached the stream when he heard a loud commotion. He passed the last tree and was shocked at what he saw. There were more than 20+ people now in the general area of the cave, and people were seriously lacking places to stand or sit down. Mark realized that his problem was bigger than even he realized. There were just too many people, and they needed to come up with a plan.

As he approached the cave, the 6 original members of Cave Camp came over to speak with him. Mira said.

"We have a problem, and we are hoping you can help us come up with a solution." Mark looked around and laughed.

"Yeah, you have a problem alright, but I think there is a way out if you guys are willing to help me do it." Silas then said.

"If you have ideas, we are all listening." Mark then started to lay out his plan. The system supports outposts from levels 1-3, which can upgrade if they meet certain requirements. This area would not meet those requirements, but that is ok. Outposts are designed for groups of up to 12 people, which they have obviously passed. Which means we needed a few more outposts. But more important than outposts was a plan. Mark's suggestion is that they build at least 2 more outposts. Maybe 3 if two are not enough.

Level 1 outpost needs 3 shelters, 3 people, and reliable water. Level 2 adds the need for cooking structure, defensive measures, and connected paths. Level 3 needs professional structures, active production, trade activity, and all the previous things. Mark said.

"What we need to do is create a few copies of that to house those we have. The system has provided means to instigate that. There is a settlement task tracking that I plan to set up today here at cave camp. It is basically a job system. The system tracks everything, and the outpost just needs to reserve a pool of resources to pay for the jobs." Mark spent the next hour with them. They upgraded the cave camp to level 2 and put all items not required in the camp's inventory into the goods pool.

Then they set out a plan to organize all of the others in the camp to build at least 2 more outposts. Mark agreed to manage the outposts if they set them up and built them up to level 2 before handing them over to him. He would then maintain the task list and ensure that there was a balanced amount of goods in each camp. Because the system wanted active production, they would also have to dedicate each outpost to at least a couple of trade offerings, as one of the requirements is an active trade network.

He also offered Forest's Rest as one location. Right now they specialize in leatherwork and cooking. Mark brought up his zone map and looked for good locations for the two camps they planned to add. The first was decided to be on the east side of the stream in the empty field there and the second one they decided to be south downstream at the junction where the path goes east to Forest's Rest and the path will eventually go west toward Lakeside.

After all the outposts were discussed and locations picked, Mark then brought up what was most important to him, and that was labor resources. He needed people willing to work. Specifically, anyone that had carpentry experience, logging or woodcutting experience, or a desire to learn those skills. He outlined his plan to build a future village south of this zone. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He then went over cave changes with them.

The cave had again adjusted; it now allowed 3 instances, and each instance could pick its level range. They had a level choice of levels starting at 2/4/6/8/10, and the boss would be 3 levels above that. So even low-level groups could get involved. The higher the level, the more risk and reward. Also, they were bigger. The level 10 instances could have as many as 8 rooms.

This, though, has caused runs to take longer, and that meant that the 10 hour timer did not start until after they left the instance, causing even more of a lag in their schedule. They also had found that through the system, they could register the group and level of instance they wanted, and the system could tell them an estimated time until their instance would be ready.

With as many people that had arrived, the wait was generally about a day between each run through the cave, and at the rate people were arriving, it would only climb, so getting people to do labor to fill the time would be an easy sell. In their discussions, they also decided that they would charge a daily rate to stay in the outpost so people were disinclined to stay without doing anything. That also meant they would need to pay for food, boarding, and entertainment.

Mark then left them to the planning of new locations, upgrading their current camp, and deciding on the specialization of each camp. When Mark returned to his camp, he found a couple of visitors. Rowan, the trail runner from Lakeside, was there dropping off the trade goods and picking up items for his return trip. He had brought them 2 baby goats and 4 baby chicks for them to start raising. But the best thing was his second visitor, Garrick the Carpenter and Wheelwright. Mark said.

"Hello, Garrick. I am so glad to see you." Garrick replied.

"Word is spreading that your area is expanding. Word is that the cave is drawing people from far and wide. Almost a dozen people have passed through Lakeside to go see this cave of yours."

"Not mine; it's system controlled, but yes, it's growing crazy. I just came from there, and there are some serious growing pains. They have plans to add two more outposts to accommodate all the people coming to see it."

"Well, that is why I have come. Where there are people, they always need construction, and I thought I would come here and see if I could gain some new levels in my class and maybe upgrade it or get an additional class."

"You have come at the right time. They are planning to build two new outposts if you'r willing could you build a bunkhouse in each of them as well as a kitchen facility and crafting area?" Mark and Garrick haggled over the plans and came to a decision that he would build a bunkhouse in each of the 3 outposts along with a kitchen facility and crafting area so they could level up to a level 3 outpost in each location, and with the bunkhouse, maybe fit a few more than the standard 12 per outpost.

Garrick looked around Mark's outpost and said.

"When I first came, my thoughts were to help you upgrade your place to a village. But looking around, I can see there is not enough room here. How about we first upgrade your outpost? I know it can't upgrade to a village, but we can build a small bunkhouse and maybe 3 cabins here, each of which would have at least 3 rooms." Garrick continued.

"We could also build a real kitchen for your cook and a crafting workshop that would fit 3-4 crafters comfortably. We would need to cut back a few trees to make enough room for all that, but your lifestyle here would be much better." Mark replied.

"Well, my real plans were to go south and build a real village down near a field of wheat. Should we maybe go do that instead of fixing this place up?" Garrick replied.

"Mark, even if you move to a bigger and better spot, this place will still be needed that cave is going to draw people from miles away, so build here, then the 3 outposts to support the cave, and then move south. Wait, you said wheat? I would kill for hot baked bread." Dale walked over and presented Garrick with a loaf of hot bread right out of the oven.

"If you build me a better kitchen, I will make as much bread as you can eat."