Pal Lord: A Different Kingdom Building

[Territory Summary: Current Resources: Wood 8, Stone 2, Hemp 1, Iron 0, 3 Gold 5 Silver 0 Copper, Food 3, Elemental Crystals 0…]

[Territory Prosperity: 0, Territory Fame: 0]

[Resident Summary: Happiness: -5%, Fullness: 80%, Faith: 0%]

[Resident Needs: Meowpaws wants a bed of her own.]

[Territory Development Suggestions: You must increase your population as soon as possible (Urgent)!]

[Territory Development Suggestions: You must enhance the military strength of the territory (Urgent)!]

Pino opened his eyes to see the report from the territory's core.

"Ugh... I've barely woken up and I already have to handle business? Even the emperor isn't this eager," Pino yawned and sat up.

To his surprise, Meowpaws was still lying in bed, not yet working!

"Didn't I tell you to get up and work as soon as your stamina was full? Are you already learning to slack off at such a young age?" Pino immediately scolded.

Meowpaws, looking utterly pitiful, finally woke up and pointed to her stamina bar: [80/100].

"Hm?" Pino furrowed his brow, calculating.

The wooden bed restores 20 stamina per hour, and you've been sleeping for 8 hours. Why hasn't it fully recovered? This didn't add up! Was the bed slacking off, or did the cat sneak out for some food?

Meowpaws rolled around on the bed in a desperate attempt to explain, showing how Pino had tossed and turned during the night—using her as a pillow, then as a blanket, and even wedged between his legs.

Pino sighed and shook his head. He opened the bag of berries Meowpaws had gathered yesterday, ready to eat for breakfast and fill his stomach.

But when he opened it, Pino's face darkened. Half of the berries were still green, and a small portion was even toxic. Only a few were edible wild berries.

"Are you trying to poison me and inherit my straw bed?"

Meowpaws lowered her head in shame and pawed at the ground, as if speaking in pitiful, "I'm a carnivore... How was I supposed to know how to tell the difference in berries?"

Pino could only shake his head helplessly. He separated the different berries and explained, "The green ones aren't ripe. The red ones are ripe and safe to eat…"

Meowpaws looked confused: "Meow?"

"Are you really this dumb? You don't understand this?" Pino glared at her, suspecting she was pretending to be foolish.

Meowpaws pointed to her stats: [Intelligence: 2].

"Damn it…" Pino scratched his head and spoke slowly, "Fruit! Red! Edible! Fruit! Green! Not edible!"

"Meow?" Meowpaws still had a confused expression. "Aren't they the same color?"

"Still don't get it?" Pino suddenly realized that cats couldn't differentiate many colors due to their vision, so relying on color to identify the ripeness of fruit was indeed difficult for her.

"Put it to your nose and smell it. If it smells good, it's ripe and safe to eat. This one doesn't smell? It's unripe, don't eat it! If you do, your stomach will hurt! This one's toxic. If you eat it, you'll die. You can still gather them, but keep them separate." To make sure Meowpaws, with her intelligence of 2, understood what "toxic" meant, Pino exaggeratedly stuck out his tongue and made a dying expression.

[Meowpaws liked your exaggerated expression, Loyalty +5]

"This type of berry, with this shape and pattern, is called a 'snakeberry.' It's tasty, but you must be careful when picking it, as there may be venomous snakes around."

Meowpaws mimicked eating spicy strips, as if even venomous snakes were delicious.

[You are teaching Meowpaws basic botany skills]

[Meowpaws learned a new skill: Berry Picking]

[Meowpaws' affection increased by +10]

"Go, don't think you can slack off just because you're cute! Get those berries picked! Are there any of your brothers and sisters still in the jungle? Bring them here—my territory could use a little more attention," Pino followed the core's suggestion.

"Meow~!" Meowpaws showed no resistance at all. Mischief cats weren't typically solitary, and they took great joy in getting their kin involved in troublesome acts—after all, it was a deadly prank.

Meanwhile, Pino started dealing with the leftover wood from yesterday, planning to build a house for himself. Without knowledge of weather predictions, he couldn't afford to be caught unprepared if it rained heavily.

Building a house fell under the [Intelligence] attribute's engineering branch, but he hadn't invested any points there. The construction penalty was long, and after hammering away for a while, he managed to build just one wall. Even so, he couldn't bear to spend the 3 silver coins in his pocket hiring a craftsman from the neighboring village. He preferred to take his time and hammer it out himself.

A while later, a mischievous cat poked its head out from the forest. It had just heard from another mischief cat that there was a human farmer who hid silver coins in a tree hollow, and it planned to steal them when the human wasn't looking.

[Warning: An intruder is stealing your property!]

Pino's eyes lit up. Ah, Meowpaws really did bring me some friends to trick! He hefted his stone axe, then, without hesitation, threw it in a swift arc.

This mischievous cat didn't have Meowpaws' luck. The axe missed its intended mark but struck the cat's ear, pinning it to the tree with a scream of pain.

Pino walked over, swinging his slave shackles. He named his second slave, "One-Ear."

[Mischief Cat]

[Name: One-Ear]

[Race: Feline Monster]

[Gender: Male]

[Level: Lv. 5]

[Age: 5 years]

[Attributes: Strength 7, Agility 15, Intelligence 2, Charisma 2]

[Hunger: 30/50]

[Loyalty: 10/100]

[Personality: Reckless, Mean-spirited, Rebellious, Free-spirited]

[Talent: Energetic, increases stamina cap by +30, stamina recovery speed by +30%]

[Negative Talent: Wreck-it, the mischievous personality of the mischief cat often leads it to damage territory items.]

[Negative Talent: Emotional Instability, has a chance of mental breakdown during continuous work.]

"Wreck-it is probably a shared talent of all mischievous cats. Emotional breakdown? Even if it breaks down, it's still working for me! Who knows, maybe if it breaks down while working, the Exploitation Points will be doubled." Pino pointed to the pile of grass nearby. "Go clear the weeds!"

One-Ear's sharp claws didn't need a sickle to clear the grass.

With a downcast expression, One-Ear trudged into the thick weeds, beginning his grim life as a slave, constantly contributing Exploitation Points.

Meowpaws had become quite the Slave Lord, having convinced four mischievous cats to join the cause, just in time to use up all the slave shackles.

The only regret was that his appraisal skill could only reveal a slave's exact talents after successfully enslaving them.

This led to him capturing a mischievous cat with poor talents—a true fatty, three times the size of the others. He named it "Strong."

[Attributes: Strength 9, Agility 5, Intelligence 2, Charisma 4]

[Hunger: 10/200]

[Loyalty: 50/100]

[Personality: Greedy, Lazy, Honest]

[Negative Talent: Bottomless Stomach, four times the normal hunger limit, hunger speed +100%]

[Negative Talent: Addicted to Laziness, always thinking of slacking off, work efficiency -50%]

Despite the poor talents, Pino found himself even more satisfied. The lazier it was, the harder he could make it work. Exploitation Points would come pouring in, wouldn't they? He planned to custom-make a watermill cage for it. Once Strong got in, it would have to keep turning the watermill to irrigate the fields—if it stopped, it'd end up a squashed meatball inside the mill. But for now, no fields had been cleared, so it would have to chop wood instead.

By the way, compared to the 10 loyalty of the other mischief cats, this one had 50 loyalty from the start? Did it think it had found a long-term meal ticket? What a joke! I'm already giving you a job opportunity, and now you expect me to provide food as well?

After Pino arranged the tasks for the four mischievous cats, Meowpaws finished its berry picking and returned, holding a large leaf full of fresh berries.

Pino examined the berries, pleased, then crushed them and stuffed them into the dry, tough black bread to serve as jam—barely enough to fill his stomach.

Sigh, after this meal, I'll have to start worrying about food for the future. Planting is out of the question for now, and running to the nearest town to buy food would take half a day over the mountains. Plus, I don't even have the money for that. Foraging? Hunting? Fishing? Hmm… there's a small river in the distance, maybe that's good for fishing.

Pino gathered some tough vines and, using the core's blueprint, crafted two fishing baskets, then fashioned a simple spear from a long tree branch. He set off with Meowpaws to fish.

As soon as the lord left the territory, the other mischievous cats' tails perked up, eager to slack off! But Pino's face darkened as he turned and pointed. "I'll calculate how many trees you can chop and how much grass you can pull per hour based on your strength level. Miss a single piece of wood, and you won't be eating tonight."

[Exploitation Point from One-Ear +1]

[Exploitation Point from Meow Two +1]

[Exploitation Point from Meow Three +1]

[Exploitation Point from Strong +3]

Tsk, just a "no dinner" threat and I get three Exploitation Points from Strong. You're quite something, huh?

Pino and Meowpaws reached the riverbank, two thousand meters from the territory. Pino dipped his last bit of black bread in water, kneaded it into a dough ball, and placed it in one of the woven baskets to sink into the river.

Then, they moved to the shallows, where Pino began teaching Meowpaws how to fish.

"See any fish?" the two crouched in the grass, watching the fish drift by in the shallows.

"Meowmm!" Meowpaws squinted its eyes, its tail wagging in excitement. Cats loved fish, but fishing was another matter. Mischief cats didn't have the patience for hunting.

"What we see are just the reflections on the water's surface; the real fish are beneath that. So when you throw the spear, aim just a little lower," Pino explained before suddenly jumping up, raising his spear, and throwing it.

Clearly, both skill and luck were lacking. The spear grazed the fish's belly, scaring it to leap out of the water. Meowpaws, crouching low, sprang from the grass, snapped its jaws around the fish, and landed on the opposite shore.

"Is this teamwork with the lord?" Meowpaws grinned, fish in mouth, its tail swishing.

Pino, a little embarrassed, wiped his nose, then strung the fish onto some vines and hung them on a tree, preparing for the next catch.

He even had Meowpaws put its tail in the water to lure the fish to the shore, while he readied his spear for the next throw.

[You taught Meowpaws the skill: Fishing]

[Meowpaws' loyalty increased by +10]

"Damn it, I'm feeding you just for Exploitation Points, but why is your loyalty going up the more I feed you?" Pino grumbled, clearly annoyed.

The entire afternoon was fruitful. A whole branch was filled with heavy, big fish, the smallest of which was about a forearm long. He also collected several smaller fish from the nearby fish traps—dozens of palm-sized little fish.

Naturally, Pino wasn't about to carry the fish himself. He tossed everything to Meowpaws, who, though too tired to stand up straight, proudly carried the fish back to the territory, strutting like a victorious army returning home.

Back at the territory, true to their nature as mischief cats, all of them were sprawled out and slacking off. With their innate "Wreck-it" talent, they had even turned the single straw bed upside down, scattering it everywhere.

Pino gritted his teeth in frustration. "You all aren't getting any food tonight if you don't finish your work!!"

The four mischief cats, their tails drooping, reluctantly returned to their tasks, contributing a little Exploitation Point each.

Meanwhile, Meowpaws started to process the fish, removing the entrails for easier preservation.

[You taught Meowpaws the skill: Disembowel (Fish)]

Pino gathered some dry hay, twigs, and cypress branches to start a bonfire. He planned to roast some fish for dinner and preserve the rest as smoked fish.

Meowpaws worked diligently, using its sharp claws to swiftly gut the fish, clean the insides, and dispose of the fish scraps. These scraps were given to Strong, who, with his [Bottomless Stomach] talent, needed to eat in order to work.

While munching on the discarded bits, Strong's loyalty increased by 5 points. Just as he was about to lie down, content and full, Pino's command came.

"The lord's meals aren't free, Strong. Your workload just increased by 20%!"

[Exploitation Point from Strong +1]

The bonfire flared up, and Pino began stringing the fish onto skewers. With the bonfire crackling, he stuck the skewers in the ground to roast the fish. Meowpaws, sitting beside him, eagerly wagged its tail, saliva practically dripping from its mouth. It had worked all day, after all.

Finally, when the fish was roasted, Pino threw two small, palm-sized fish to Meowpaws, while he dug into the plump, fat fish himself.

"Meow…" Meowpaws sat, tearful, gesturing with its paws. After all the work, its pay was so little…

"Complain about the wages, and you'll only get more narrow-minded. Speak of dedication, and you'll raise your standards," Pino teased.

"You shouldn't be dissatisfied with the two small fish in your paws. There are other cats out there who didn't get any roasted fish! You should be grateful, Meowpaws," Pino chided, giving a lecture.

[Exploitation Points from Meowpaws +2]

[Received Roasted Fish 3 (48h shelf life), Received Smoked Fish 8 (30d dried shelf life)]

Worried that the mischief cats might steal the smoked fish, Pino crafted a wooden box to store the fish. He took out a small piece and handed it to the mischief cat with the highest combat power, One-Ear. "From now on, these fish are yours. Guard them well, and don't let the bad cats steal them."

[One-Ear's loyalty to you +5]

Successfully created a divide among the mischief cats.

Hmm... it's getting late. Just two more hours of work before it's time to sleep.

"You cats messed up my straw bed. Come over here!"

Pino took a deep breath, having earned 23 Exploitation Points today. "Core! Two more hits before bed."

[Wretched Meditation Art]

[Grade: C]

[A modified apprentice-level meditation technique, used to improve meditation efficiency. During meditation, it steals the energy from nearby living beings to speed up one's mana recovery.]

[Effect 1: Restores (5Intelligence) mana per hour. For every 5 lifeforms within 10 meters, it increases by 1.]

[Effect 2: Once the mana is full, every 5 hours of meditation increases mana capacity by 2.]

[Effect 3: Unlocks the mana slot when mana capacity is unavailable. Required Intelligence: 5]

A perfect fit for Pino, living up to its "wretched" name. It would unlock his mana slot and allow him to use the Skeleton Awakening spell.

The other blueprint he received was a production tool blueprint:

[Item Blueprint: Laborer's Plow and Harrow]

[A heavy tool for cultivating wilderness, extremely heavy, but highly efficient. Physical consumption +50%, Work efficiency +50%]

[Use: To cultivate wasteland.]

[Usage requirement: Strength 10]

[Materials: Wood 5, Iron 2, Hemp 2, Primary Workbench 1]

Hmm... although he couldn't make it yet, Strong would be perfect for this job once he was able to.

[Exploitation Point from Strong +1]

Sitting on the cat bed, Pino began meditating, unlocking his mana slot!