Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 1392 - 1390: City of Peace

"Apart from personnel, there’s the issue of materials," Moli maintained her tone, "Many materials are continuously in short supply at the construction site, especially stone and wood. Wood hardly produces locally in Shalin, so it must be purchased and transported from other places at high prices. As for stone, Shalin does have some, but due to limited productivity and quality, it can only meet half of the demand. The other half must also be purchased and transported from outside. This clearly isn’t a long-term solution, especially since there’s an expansion plan after the new city is completed.

Your subordinate named Lynn has decided to expand the existing quarry to solve this problem. As for me, I want to do something bigger, and I’m prepared to invest a large sum of money to survey high-quality stone sites throughout Shalin and establish eight to ten large quarries. The stone produced can not only meet local demands but can also be sold externally. Additionally, I want to gradually build roads between the various cities in the Shalin area to ensure smooth transportation in the future, which will benefit commercial development.

And then..."

Moli spoke a lot, very detailed, and Richard listened intently, occasionally speaking up to ask a few details.

Just like that, Moli talked for over half an hour before she was done.

"Phew—" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Exhaling a breath, Moli put away the scroll, looked at Richard, and concluded, "The situation is more or less as I’ve described. I know you said the new city can be built in six months, but the original plan was four months. Two months have already passed, leaving another two months. It may be difficult, but I think it’s not impossible to complete in two months. As long as my subordinates and I work harder, we should achieve your goal."

"That’s best," Richard nodded.

"In that case, I want to discuss that matter," Moli spoke with intention, looking at Richard, "You have seen my capability, I say two months and it will be done. So, discussing that matter in advance wouldn’t be excessive, right?"

"No." Richard listened and directly shook his head in refusal, "It’s not considered a complete success until the dust settles. The construction of the new city is a test for you. Only if you pass the test will I formally discuss that matter with you."

"But..." Moli frowned, questioning, "But what if I really put in a lot of effort to help you finish building the new city, and you continue to refuse to discuss that matter with me? Wouldn’t that mean I wasted my energy and suffered a significant loss?"

Richard gave Moli a strange look and said, "By the way, you haven’t forgotten that you still owe me money, right? That money should be enough for four months of your help, right? Not to mention I haven’t broken any promises to you, even if I did, that amount should adequately compensate for your losses."

"I..." Moli was at a loss for words, pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and said, "Alright then, we’ll discuss that matter formally in two months."

"Very well, I’ll be waiting."

"I’ll be waiting too," Moli said, giving Richard a deep look, then turned around and floated out of the room.

Richard looked up at the door through which Moli had left, his eyebrows slightly raised as if pondering something. But he didn’t ponder for long before he withdrew his gaze and got busy with his own affairs again.

Richard could guess what Moli would do after leaving, nothing but continuing to be busy with various tasks in the construction of the new city. He never liked these energy-draining and tedious things, but fortunately, Moli was there to serve, so he could relax and seriously engage in his research.

This made him feel relaxed and content.

Moli, naturally, would have a different feeling, but it had little to do with him.

In some ways, this wasn’t very good.

But from another perspective, it was very good.

Yes, very good.

...

The following two months were indeed not very kind to Moli.

As the project approached completion, the more tedious and annoying things became, and despite Moli’s efforts to remain calm, she lost her temper more than once.

For instance, the main road, which had taken a lot of effort to build for the new city, was found to be twenty centimeters too low during inspection.

What to do? What else could be done? They had to break it up, fill it with soil, and pave it again.

Another example, among the workers, the southern miners, due to salary issues, inexplicably came into conflict with the local laborers. Southern miners mocked the local workers for knowing nothing, while local workers ridiculed the southern workers as outsiders. After that, the conflict continuously escalated, and the southern miners requested the dismissal of all local workers, while local workers wanted the southern workers to roll back to their hometowns and leave Shalin.

What could be done? Resort to harsh measures to establish authority?

This wasn’t an army, nor were these fully-owned slaves, but workers who worked for wages. Killing would have too bad of an effect, and a milder approach was necessary. However, it couldn’t be too mild, or it wouldn’t satisfy either side; the intensity had to be just right to solve the problem.

So Moli played both the good and bad cop, dismissed a few troublemakers, raised wages, and did a lot of behind-the-scenes work to stabilize the situation.

In addition, the progress on the quarry was not going smoothly, facing several small-time managers’ obstruction. The road construction between cities also did not receive as much support as imagined, with more people thinking it was a pointless waste.

Life in these two months could be described as having new challenges and surprises every day.

However, thinking of the matter to be discussed with Richard, Moli gritted her teeth and persevered, trying to handle every issue properly while continuously advancing the city-building progress.

Thus, two months later, exactly four months after the commencement of city construction, the new city was officially completed.

The wide roads, planned buildings, brand-new public facilities, the vast municipal hall, the exquisite Lord Mansion... everything was delightful to behold...

The filtered residents began to be allowed to move into the new city one after another, making the city gradually lively. Residents, merchants, and nobles from other places were also slowly attracted to become part of the new city, contributing to its thriving life force.

Thus, more than ten days after the new city was completed, on June 6th, the name was officially engraved on the city gate. The Lord Mansion of Richard in Black Water City, the municipal hall for handling state affairs, and the headquarters of the Efficiency Department all moved in, symbolizing the new city’s formal establishment as the administrative center of the entire Shalin and the future economic center.

This day was one worth remembering in Shalin’s history.

Moreover, many Shalin people remembered the new city’s special and tongue-twisting name—Atlantismantino, abbreviated as Atlantis, which means in the local Shalin language... the City of Peace.