Chapter 145 - 118: Will the House Arrive Tomorrow?

In fact, the long-term recruitment contract of two hundred Bright Gold Coins is no burden for the Ark.

Lin Lan, with two pirates, thoroughly cleaned out the land in the outer city of the dungeon, filling the manor’s underground warehouse with gray-quality ’collectibles’.

Due to Charles’ deliberate use of ’hunger marketing’ methods, a single well-preserved, exquisite toy can bring the Ark thousands of Bright Gold Coins in revenue.

These beautiful goods look incredibly prestigious at home and are in no short supply of buyers in the Alliance; there are plenty of wealthy people willing to pay for unique items.

Therefore, Seagull City currently doesn’t lack money, but the problem facing Lin Lan is that the Ark Kingdom’s productivity is almost zero, relying solely on importing goods.

Plus with the exchange rate of one Ark Coin for twenty Bright Gold Coins, if this situation is left unchecked, focusing only on the minor profits from ’art collectibles’, the Ark Kingdom won’t last long.

To break this stalemate and establish a foothold in the Age of Exploration, the Ark Kingdom must find a way to establish its own export pillar.

The Sun Mine is Lin Lan’s greatest reliance!

It’s important to know that the Ash Soil from the Sun Divine Kingdom can do more than just enhance cold weapons.

Although the Ark’s current way of using Ash Soil is like an ignorant infant controlling a space Starship, under Lin Lan’s guidance, Abel, who manages the Seagull Steelworks, is exploring advanced uses of Ash Soil day and night.

The plain-looking blacksmith has already mastered the Solar Script, and now he can skillfully cast Ash Soil into any material.

Which is known as——

Enhancement.

This is a long-term business, the true foundation for the Ark’s nationhood!

Simply imagine, if the Ark successfully establishes a shipbuilding industry in the future, workers could fully hammer the Sun Blessing into the entire ship!

This is the direction Lin Lan offered to Charles; he intends to set up formal, stable, and reliable Ash Soil mining channels across the islands.

But mining is a skilled job.

Collecting Sun Ash Soil doesn’t require physical strength but rather the corresponding knowledge and willpower, and this crucial and long-term work cannot rely purely on naive children; Lin Lan hadn’t darkened his heart to such an extent.

This results in an extreme lack of talent in the Ark Kingdom.

This is also why Lin Lan is willing to spend two hundred Bright Gold Coins to recruit the Alliance people.

Anyone who signs this contract, supervised jointly by the Alliance official and the Ark Kingdom, agrees to stay on Ark Island for a full five years.

It appears the effect is still not good; the first batch of contract-signers who came to Ark Island included only thirty-two Feis students.

Don’t be fooled by those merchants who clamored about self-recommendation and claimed numerous connections when employing; once talking long-term contracts, they immediately change their tune and hesitate.

After all, Seagull Town had not yet resolved the Blood Plague Curse, and most merchants only thought about making a quick profit and leaving, with no intention of staying in town.

In the end, only the kind-hearted Feis people boarded Old Dean’s boat.

However, Lin Lan does not worry about this; where there’s a first batch, there’s a second batch, and he remains confident in the Ark’s future development.

Lin Lan carefully examined the big purple-haired Cat Girl in front of him, his gaze entirely captivated by her furry ears and tail.

This was his first time seeing the Feis Race.

The other said she hadn’t signed the contract... so what’s her game? Here for a vacation?

Perhaps from being overly nervous, the Cat Girl looked all fluffed up.

"No need to be so restrained; I’m not going to eat you."

Lin Lan’s eyes were somewhat helpless as he pointed to a chair: "Sit down first; you haven’t introduced yourself yet."

"Ah! I’m very sorry."

The purple-haired Cat Girl obediently sat down, lowered her head, her ears pressed back, and placed her slightly curled fingers on her plump thighs: "My name is Yi Feng, a mentor from Silver Moon Academy, responsible for teaching the children’s cultural courses."

Lin Lan nodded.

Old Dean truly has a knack; even academy mentors have been smoothly lured over.

"Why do you think I’m trading Feis people?"

Lin Lan sat up straight, curious: "I made it clear in the contract, right? The Ark Kingdom is just recruiting you to work here, with additional monthly pay, and there are no harsh restrictions on your freedom either."

"That’s because..."

Yi Feng nervously patted her tail on the floor, her voice as tiny as a mosquito’s: "Most newspapers say... they say you..."

"Hmm?" Lin Lan raised an eyebrow: "Say what?"

"The newspapers say you’re a cold, ruthless, evil, brutal, mad, greedy monster king who needs twenty maids daily to satisfy your desires and forces children to work day and night!"

Yi Feng covered her face with her hands and shouted boldly.

Lin Lan: ...

The gray-haired boy’s mouth twitched.

Well, well, the Alliance’s newspaper is quite good at fabricating stories; why not claim I’m the Celestial Calamity itself?

"But I’ve already seen through it; you’re not as the newspapers describe..."

Yi Feng quickly added, cautiously peeking through her fingers at the Ark Leader behind the desk: "Please... please don’t get angry..."

The gray-haired boy did not fly into a rage but just rubbed his brow.

It seems the plan to establish a local newspaper on Ark Island must be expedited...

Lin Lan thought to himself, he couldn’t control foreign news, but the Ark Kingdom’s locals shouldn’t let abstract news distort their perception.