It took a long time for the craze of the new factions to cease, far longer than it practically any other creation of new factions. However, many of the citizens saw this competition from Baron and Zhang Da Zhi as something that was akin to Sun Tzu and Zhu Ge Liang’s healthy contest when they were new to planet 4. For many of the older residents, it was quite a throwback to a time when the Chinese community was far less advanced and lower on the rankings than they currently were. Those at the top of the Sun Alliance that were aware of the problem of fewer new arrivals secretly hoped that this squabble between Under 1 Banner faction and the two Dragon factions were going to be able to inspire many others to rise up and continue fighting on.
It was now over two decades since the 3 new factions had been vying for the new recruits and Baron’s team was still on top, by a long shot. In their one single faction, Under 1 Banner held over 90,000 strategists, researchers, developers, and other staff. Truly, everything that Baron had imagined and more ever since he set his sights on his first major goal of starting a faction.
On the other hand, Zhang Da Zhi had only managed to gain just over 50,000 between the two of his factions. In his elite faction, there was a healthy 10,000 force that was no joke. And the other faction under the name of Qi Ji Guang, but actually still very much Zhang Da Zhi’s, had around 40,000 members. Ever since the referral program, they were not able to match the Under 1 Banner faction's growth, no matter how hard they tried. Zhang Da Zhi, Qi Ji Guang, Ding Lai Hang, and many others within the faction had thought of doing the referral program as well, but for various reasons decided against it in the end.
Guan Yu, Yue Fei, Baron and many of the others had decided that it was best for all of their mental health to go take a break for a few days. All of this stress accumulating from worrying about the developments of the faction had taken a serious toll on their minds. In all this time, they had set up many new divisions that should have strengthened the unity that the new members had with the faction. Some of the most useful ones included an intra-faction auction house that was filled with high-level blueprints. It was the hope of many of the inner-circle members as well as Baron that eventually this would serve as a quick way to make a few coins for the ones who need it.
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Second, on this list was a research and development facility that was enough for beginners. With the help of a few of Roxi’s new friends from the Femme Fatale faction, the Under 1 Banner faction was able to train a few people that were originally uninterested in warfare to go down a different path. It wasn’t much for now, but if Roxi decided to come back, then many more facilities would be added and upgraded. For now, this one was enough.
Another top-notch addition to their plot of land was a training facility. A decade or so ago, there was a tournament held to see which of the new recruits held potential and those individuals would be trained to teach others. A rigorous system was set in place so that no one would be able to take advantage of the system as well as a feedback system to ensure quality teachers. Though these were in place, it was hardly ever needed.
Of course, all of this was well and good, but they were a faction and they needed a source of income as well. So, Baron went to go look for Madam Zheng for advice. As soon as he got there, he was instead met by Second husband who was a much better adviser in this circumstance. The two of them talked for quite a bit on all of the strategies to do well in this department.
A few hours later, Baron went to implement all of the policies that the Second advised him to do and it would take a few months of trial and error before he found success in what he wanted. The Under 1 Banner faction went from a no income faction to a quarter of a million a year faction. The following years would see an increase.
All of these new buildings and such did come at a heavy price, over 10 million coins. Most of this was footed by Li Xin, but he did not mind as he was now completely invested in the faction as much as anybody else was. In terms of space, they had just barely filled up half of their 5km by 5km lot. Truly, it would take a lot more for them to require more space, but as of this moment, they were done with adding anything else. Another reason for the break that they all agreed upon was so that their treasury could fill up a bit before they proceeded with any other large expensive projects.
Jaxon decided to spend his time making a few coins just for himself so Guan Yu and Yue Fei decided to help him out by introducing him to a few influential young masters that wished to become better aerial strategists. After giving a few recommendations and referrals, Guan Yu and Yue Fei went on to complete a few community tasks as they had mostly been ignoring their duties for quite a while.
Baron, Han Xin, and Li Xin went to go catch up on old times in a cafe somewhere. The rest either decided to stay at the faction in order to make sure that the faction did not go into meltdown mode or to go to the many war rooms across the community in hopes of letting off some steam.