Chapter 354 - 326: Island Development

"Alright. If you really want it, I suppose I can sell you some," Xie Ya chuckled softly.

As they spoke, the two walked out of the room.

A figure dressed head-to-toe in black, their face hidden by a mask, had been waiting outside the door for some time.

"Boss!"

Xie Ya glanced at him. She normally wouldn’t ask, but with what happened to Pang Ming in mind, she couldn’t help but inquire, "How have things been? Has anyone else approached?"

"Yes."

The smile vanished from Xie Ya’s face. "There really were? Where did they come from?"

The subordinate replied, "I don’t know. They came riding a bird. The bird must be an Extraordinary—it was very fast. They came from the direction of the mountain range."

Xie Ya frowned. ’I remember a couple months ago, it seemed like a novice Tuiyuan appeared on this map.’

"That’s right, but we don’t know its exact location."

Xie Ya pondered this for a long moment. "Go over there later and check it out. It’s best if you can get a clear picture of the situation."

At this thought, Xie Ya grew vexed. ’I’d better not have a repeat of what happened with Pang Ming. I worked my ass off to plant these trees.’

’It might only be one of my ventures, but if something went wrong, all the time and effort I’ve invested would go down the drain.’

"Yes."

After giving her order, Xie Ya returned to her Home, emerging a moment later with five men on horseback.

The five men wore curved sabers at their waists, with Long Spears hanging from the sides of their mounts.

Each horse was exceptionally large and muscular, with a small, single horn sprouting from its forehead.

"Your mission is to investigate the area, get a clear picture of what’s going on, and do not leave any traces."

"Yes!"

The city gates opened, and the five men galloped away, heading north at full speed.

...

"GIBBLE GOBBLE." Inside the Hundred Schools Book Tower, Cao Biansheng sat in a chair by the window, across from Qin Ziwu. Each of them held a book on the Fishman language.

"This is so hard!" Cao Biansheng set his book down and leaned back. "My god, I don’t think even English was this difficult."

Sweat beaded on Qin Ziwu’s forehead. He was completely engrossed, his mouth forming strange syllables.

Cao Biansheng looked at Qin Ziwu. "As expected of a high school senior. You’re a better student than a college kid like me."

Qin Ziwu glanced at him and shook his head. "Actually, I’m a student-athlete."

"..." The corner of Cao Biansheng’s mouth twitched.

Qin Ziwu added, "My big brother promised that if I learn the Fishman language, he’ll have a custom set of exclusive gear made for me: a full suit of high-purity Ghost Gold armor."

"Damn!" Cao Biansheng was green with envy. "I want one too!"

The Military Equipment Supervisor had a massive daily workload, and they produced a fair amount of weapons and equipment each day.

But most of it was mass-produced equipment for general issue.

As far as he knew, for example, they were currently outfitting the Fishmen, having designed a custom Fish Spear for them that was easy to use in underwater combat!

This model of Fish Spear was forged with some Ghost Gold, making both its strength and flexibility top-tier!

Firing up the forges to custom-tailor a single set of gear was an incredible luxury.

Cao Biansheng rubbed his hands together and said cheekily, "Ask your brother if he needs another little brother. I’ll call him ’big bro’ too if he wants."

Qin Ziwu replied, "You’ve made plenty of contributions. You could just exchange them for a set, couldn’t you?"

"No way! Nothing you pay for tastes as sweet as something you get for free!"

"AHEM, AHEM, AHEM." A cough sounded from nearby. The two exchanged a glance and quickly lowered their voices.

On the coast, next to a reef, an open area by the sea was bustling with activity.

A series of simple wooden boats were roped together, interspersed with wooden planks, all lashed into one structure.

Air bladders and empty barrels were tied to the sides for buoyancy, creating a crude floating work platform.

Many people could be seen bustling about on it; some carried net baskets, while others held buckets and fishing rods.

Jia Liangcai said to Qin Ziwen on the shore, "Sir, this is the floating fishing platform we’ve constructed. It makes it easy to fish and cast nets. Once the fish population in this spot dwindles, we can just disassemble it, move it, and set up our nets in a new location."

"Mm, that’s great. It gives some of our people work to do, and close by, too." Qin Ziwen nodded. "But you must prioritize safety. If there’s a storm or any other bad weather, make sure to give everyone timely warning."

Jia Liangcai replied, "Don’t worry, sir. We have the Weather Altar now, so we can predict the next day’s weather. There won’t be any accidents."

A thought occurred to Qin Ziwen, and he asked, "This is all fine, but what’s the progress on developing the other surrounding islands?"

Jia Liangcai reported, "Sir, we’ve already established a rudimentary settlement on the nearest island. However, it’s a time-consuming process because we have to survey the environment and clear out wild beasts and venomous snakes."

"Oh? I should go take a look. What time does the boat leave?"

"If you need one, sir, we can arrange one right now."

"There’s no rush. What time is the ferry?"

"Three in the afternoon. That’s in an hour."

"I’ll wait for it, then," Qin Ziwen said with a wave of his hand.

Two days had passed since the Fishmen came ashore. After dealing with the other Gated Communities and the trouble with the Fishman Race, the Gated Community’s strategic focus shifted to the surrounding archipelago.

The surrounding islands became the primary objective.

「Three in the afternoon.」

A new ship, freshly launched from the Ghost Ship Dock, slowly pulled up alongside the reef. A long, thick gangplank extended from the deck to the shore.

A line of thirty people had already formed on the shore.

Someone noticed Qin Ziwen and called out in greeting.

Stepping onto the deck, Qin Ziwen glanced around. The ship’s primary function was transport, not fishing, so its deck was rather spacious, unlike a fishing boat’s, which would be cluttered with tools.

The passengers quickly found seats.

The ship moved slowly, rocking gently on the sea’s surface. A passenger clutched their forehead, stuck their head over the side, and with a "BLERGH," vomited.

Someone nearby joked, "Seasick? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it after you’ve puked a few more times."

The wooden boat wasn’t very fast. With its sails raised, it took nearly half an hour to reach the next island.

This wasn’t the island where the Urban Village was located, but another one south of the Gated Community.

The island was quite large, ranking among the top five in the surrounding archipelago.

However, the terrain was relatively flat, and the trees were somewhat sparse. Along the northern coast lay a long, straight stretch of sandy beach.

The scenery was quite beautiful.

Three simple wooden huts had already been constructed where the ship docked.

A dozen or so craftsmen could be seen bustling about, felling local trees and gathering materials to build more houses.

Qin Ziwen disembarked along with the crowd.

He stepped onto the soft sand. The beach was beautiful—a pale gold, washed by an azure sea that frothed at the shore.

Along the long stretch of beach, a few people were foraging for shellfish and other sea creatures.

This undeveloped beach was rich with resources.

In the shallows, he even saw two small boats with people on deck casting fishing nets.

His arrival caused a small stir. The man in charge here, Guo Xiaochun, ran over. "President, you’re here! We just caught a massive abalone and were about to send it over to you."

...

...