🎄 Christmas Special! 🎄
To celebrate Christmas, enjoy 30% off monthly subscriptions from December 25th to 31st 🎁✨
The adjusted price is available on the Patreon page.
Chapter 508: The Mechanical Processing Plant
"Thanks to the additional promotion in the Arcane Times, in just half a month, we've received over 100,000 refugees via the large teleportation array."
"It's estimated that if the domestic situation remains unchanged, over one million refugees will have been teleported here by the end of the year."
"By year's end, our total population is expected to reach 1.9 million!"
Ralph, the steward, smiled as he looked toward the distant teleportation zone, continuing to review the documents in his hands.
Refugees sent to the temporary settlement areas were guided by skilled staff to wash and change into clean clothing.
They would stay in the temporary settlement for one day before being sent to the education and transformation area on the outer ring of Bay City.
After seven days of training,
most professional farmers would be dispatched to the reclamation base on the eastern Silver Moon River Plains.
There, the fertile and flat plains would be cultivated into arable farmland.
They would also receive the permanent right to cultivate ten acres of farmland per person, as promised by Bay Territory.
If they worked harder and exceeded their reclamation targets, they would be allocated additional farmland.
Talented individuals skilled in various manufacturing professions would be assigned to professional training positions and join the expanding factories.
Elderly people unable to work would be provided accommodations and grouped with other seniors to learn about the rules of Bay Territory.
Through subtle influence, they would come to appreciate the benefits of living in Bay Territory.
Of course, Bay Territory valued the children—regarded as burdens by other lords—the most.
Every refugee teleported here could find a place suited to them in Bay Territory.
The vast and open Bay Territory would see more and more people teleported in.
Thinking about Bay Territory's bright future, Ralph couldn't help but softly say:
"According to the plan, Bloodmoon City has received an additional order for five sets of large teleportation arrays."
"With the continuous teleportation provided by large arrays, the time refugees spend traveling and their mortality rate will be greatly reduced."
"However, factoring in the teleportation and maintenance costs, our monthly expenditure for recruiting population will reach one million gold coins…"
The high expense didn't concern Matthew at all.
Bay Territory's current monthly revenue had already reached 11.5 million gold coins.
Seven million from potion and weapon sales, two million from the gold mines, and 2.5 million in profits from the Dwarven Kingdom's orders.
Glancing at Yaya sneaking off, Matthew smiled slightly and continued giving instructions:
"With the council's help, the numbers aren't a concern, but make sure to prioritize safety!"
"There will definitely be spies among the refugees. Extract the ones you can identify and send them to the lab."
"As for those who are more deeply hidden, see if we can use them to uncover longer-term intelligence networks."
"Allocate more funds to Elio and have her work with Adam Smith to build a more covert intelligence network…"
Ralph nodded, jotting down the key points before leaving to make arrangements.
The population issue had been preliminarily resolved, and under Matthew's guidance, Bay Territory was fully prepared to accommodate more people.
Vast reserves of stored supplies.
Pre-arranged job positions.
A system that motivated everyone to work hard.
Low living costs that eased worries.
All of these allowed everyone to quickly integrate into Bay Territory.
Of course, relying solely on "manpower" would make development "too slow."
Reviewing the documents and confirming everything was progressing as planned, Matthew contacted Angela through a Communication Spell.
Following his intuition, Matthew headed toward the direction where Yaya had wandered off.
Where did she run off to?
Clang!
A massive rivet was driven deeply into its groove by a heavy hammer.
A massive steel golem paused its actions and stood dumbly to the side.
In the spacious and open cement factory building, the enormous steel roof was being gradually installed.
One heavy steel golem after another, under the direction of young spellcasters, was busy working nonstop.
The factory, covering an area of 5,000 square meters, was one of the largest in Bay Territory.
Without the enhanced magical cement and reinforced steel produced by the steel mill,
such an incredible factory structure would have been unimaginable to construct.
Liana extended her hand, expertly casting a monitoring spell to ensure the rivets were perfectly aligned, recording the structure.
The steel golem raised its hand, and Liana nimbly leaped onto its palm, lightly landing on the ground as its hand descended.
She waved at Yaya and Orianna, who were holding hands—each with a drumstick in hand—and smiled as she asked:
"How's the chicken? Tasty?"
"Calculate the next structure for me, and if you succeed, there's a reward for you!"
The two little ones exchanged glances, seeing a shared love for food in each other's eyes, and nodded in unison.
Huddled together, their round faces turned serious as they counted on their fingers.
Within just a minute or two, they had finished their calculations.
Confirming the accuracy, Liana gave them a thumbs-up, praising them:
"I'll treat you to a feast later. Let's go."
Orianna swayed slightly as she walked, grinning as she leaned toward Yaya and curiously asked:
"What kind of feast do we have here?"
Images of food flashing through her mind, Yaya counted on her fingers as she replied:
"It could be bear, or maybe tiger. You can have an extra bear paw later—it'll make you grow faster if you eat more."
The cheerful Orianna somehow got along well with Yaya.
Perhaps this was the bond of food lovers!
Flipping through the blueprints, Victor's eyes were filled with awe.
Bay Territory's construction speed far exceeded his expectations.
Originally, he thought Bay Territory was merely preparing a small workshop for him to produce a few magic components, as before.
But now, he was utterly stunned.
From heavy steel pressing equipment to small steel-processing lathes, everything was being installed and arranged methodically.
Beyond purely mechanical equipment, Victor also noticed many large magic-powered devices.
He never expected Bay Territory to use mana channels connected to elemental energy pools as the power source for its factories and machinery.
After all, those channels were typically the core of mage towers!
"How do you find the work environment? In about two weeks, the factory will be completed."
Matthew's calm voice left Victor quite emotional.
Yet, stubborn as he was, Victor still voiced the question that had lingered in his mind:
"Why choose me?"
Of course, it was for Orianna!
Ahem…
Matthew shrugged, replying somewhat helplessly:
"What can I do? You're the most skilled professional in mechanical modification in all of Sevinton."
"So, what do you want me to make?"
"Mechanical battle armor!"