With Qianye’s current abilities, crossing the void took no extra effort. He was at Fort Continent before long and looking down at the residence in Cerulean Wave City.
Not much time had pa.s.sed since Qianye last departed, but the city had changed considerably.
A grand-looking pier had been constructed at the lakeside, with numerous boats parked around it. Several small towns had popped up around the sh.o.r.es, and some were still in construction. Judging from the size, they could accommodate thousands of residents each.
New land had just been plowed outside of the villages. The boats on the water made for a great means of transport since not everyone had an airs.h.i.+p.
The old slums outside of the city had been completely developed, expanding several times in area to become an industrial zone. There were new workshops in almost every direction. One werewolf building, in particular, was extremely eye-catching. The structure was painted in garish colors, like a scattered rainbow or a bunch of random turkey feathers.
At this point, a figure shot into the sky from below and stood beside Qianye.
“Long time no see, William, you’ve grown.”
The werewolf now had a short beard, which granted him a bit of a mature handsomeness. He wasn’t all that happy when he heard Qianye. “What do you mean by that? I’m much older than you!”
Qianye didn’t retort. Instead, he gazed at Cerulean Wave City and said, “Looks like the development is going well.”
“Indeed! I never imagined things would progress so quickly. Our third airs.h.i.+p port is almost complete. I’m planning to build a new one in the northeast, along with a warehouse zone. That one will be dedicated to the transit of goods. Look at that industrial zone beside the depots, over a hundred workshops have set up shop there, and many new ones are under construction.”
Qianye followed William’s finger and saw a neatly divided district. Most of the workshops had already begun operating, and there were some under development.
This new district was much bigger than the old one in both size and scale. The roads alone were three times wider. The smaller streets could fit four trucks, while the main roads could accommodate ten.
“Did you design all of this?” Qianye glanced at William in doubt.
William was dissatisfied. “What? Are you looking down on me or on the werewolves?”
“You.” Qianye wasn’t mincing words.
William was furious. He raised his hand to attack but eventually lowered it. “Let it be, I can’t beat you anyway.”
Qianye said with a smile, “I won’t retaliate.”
“You’re going to be so kind?”
“Of course, it doesn’t hurt anyway.”
“I’m a duke now!”
“The same goes for a duke.”
William watched Qianye with suspicious eyes. “Are the rumors true?”
“What do they say?”
“They say you’ve become a great dark monarch, that you might ascend the Sacred Mountain one day.”
“That’s not important, but the werewolf race must be deeply affected by the recent developments. The Wolf Sovereign won’t hate me, will he?”
William seemed shocked. “Did you really kill the Wolf Ancestor and Sousa?”
“That’s only half true. I wouldn’t have been able to kill them so easily if the Profundity Monarch hadn’t taken action. What’s the situation with the werewolves?”
“The Wolf Sovereign returned to the ancestral continent as soon as he heard the news. He rounded up all the ancestral faction members and suppressed the situation, lest a similar situation appears again.”
“So, the Wolf Sovereign has always been here?”
“He lives in the duke’s manor as well.” A peerless aura surged into the sky when William pointed at the manor. That was the aura of the Wolf Sovereign, a greeting toward Qianye.
The Wolf Sovereign’s aura wasn’t from the duke’s chamber but from one of the guest rooms. This was a show of respect and stance. They wanted to let him know that everything was still Qianye’s, and that the werewolves had no intention of touching the territory.
“Why is the Wolf Sovereign here?”
“Several experts came to Fort Continent in secret after your departure. Some were trying to see if they could gain some benefits, while others were here to find out your secrets. I couldn’t handle all of them alone, so I sent a message to the Summit of Peaks. Unexpectedly, the Wolf Sovereign arrived personally.”
Qianye nodded. No one would dare to cause trouble here with the Wolf Sovereign around.
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Gazing at the area below, Qianye said, “The population must’ve doubled by now.”
“Who said so? We’ve tripled and it’s growing by the day. People from all races are here.”
“Are they getting along well?”
“Unexpectedly so. For instance, the city’s design and construction were all done by the human race’s Kong and Yin families. Honestly speaking, they do a much greater job than us werewolves; even the demonkin might not compare to them. That’s why everything was handed over to them.”
“The ma.s.sive airs.h.i.+p port was their idea as well?”
William nodded. “Yes, Young Master Kong said Cerulean Wave City will grow five times bigger and hold a million residents. That’s why the airs.h.i.+p port must be big enough, or else there won’t be enough s.p.a.ce later on.”
Qianye nodded in secret.
“What about the other areas?” Qianye asked.
“All is well. After arriving here, many people would head to the deeper parts of the continent to open up new territories and search for opportunities. Humans brought with them all kinds of equipment and mining technology. The arachne brought their magic mushrooms, which can change the origin power environment once planted. The werewolves had too much physical labor, to begin with, and now, their lands are increasing in value. As for the demonkin and vampires, no need to worry about them. They’ve all found work to do.”
“Sounds good, are there no conflicts?”
“Of course there are, almost every day, but most of them happen between individuals or small groups. Adventurers and mercenary groups are now accepting more and more different races. They’ve discovered the advantages of having diversity in their teams.”
Qianye felt rather satisfied. The foundation and rules he had laid down here were now thriving. This feeling was irreplaceable.
“Take a look at this.” William pa.s.sed over a map.
Qianye saw that the center of the map was Cerulean Wave City, and the borders marked his territory on Fort Continent.
He immediately noticed that the borders had expanded quite a bit.
“How did this happen?”
“The results of the expansion bill.”
“Expansion bill?”
“Yes, I promised those adventurous fellows on your behalf that whoever can take down new land will be a.s.signed a hundred hectares of land and the right to thirty years of tax-free farming. Of course, many local lords chose to surrender, in which case they were allowed to keep their authority. There are over twenty armies pus.h.i.+ng the borders forward at this moment. Fort Continent will be yours before long.”
“You guys could’ve built your own nation, why come under mine?" Qianye asked.
“The Wolf Sovereign will return to the ancestral lands sooner or later, and there won’t be anyone to protect the lands here. There was no news of your fate, but no one would dare to cause trouble here unless your pa.s.sing was confirmed.”
Qianye nodded slowly.
The powerhouses served as guardians, the experts operated the day-to-day matters, and the ordinary civilians prospered. This was the traditional way of Evernight.
It didn’t look so bad, at least.