Big Capitalist

"As for the public facilities you mentioned, do you know how many resources are needed to set up a permanent light array? It's an astronomical figure. Even within the Church of Light, there aren't many high-level magicians capable of setting up such an array. Furthermore, reinforcing the city walls with runes would be a monumental undertaking, requiring countless runes to be drawn, and requiring enormous effort and time. Furthermore, the materials used for our walls simply can't withstand the force of those powerful runes. If we forcefully draw them, I'm afraid the walls will collapse."

"As for the production of magic crafts and potions you mentioned, the territory of the Leo family is not the source of raw materials. If the raw materials are transported from other places for processing, the cost will be too high. The loss and cost during transportation alone are enough to make this plan unrealistic. Let's talk about the teleportation array. Do you know how much material is needed to build a teleportation array? Void stone is an extremely rare material. Each piece is priceless. Building a teleportation array requires a large amount of void stone. Moreover, the cost of maintaining and servicing the teleportation array is shockingly high. That's not all. We also have to establish connections with other countries that have teleportation arrays. Will those countries easily give you face? They are all profit-oriented. Without sufficient benefits, how can they cooperate with us?"

The head of the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce grew increasingly excited as he spoke, finally concluding in a serious tone, "The most important thing is, do you know how much gold coins this will cost? I roughly calculated that to fully implement your plan, building connections, purchasing materials, and so on, it will cost at least 100 million gold coins."

“Puff—”

When the person in charge of Xiguang Chamber of Commerce finished saying this, the people behind Merlin finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The person in charge of Xiguang Chamber of Commerce was stunned when he heard the laughter.

He was puzzled and thought to himself, "No, what are these people laughing at? Do you know what 100 million gold coins means? Have you ever seen so much money?"

Merlin couldn't help but laugh. He shook his head slightly, raised his hand and patted the person in charge of the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce, saying, "Only 100 million gold coins? I thought it would be more."

"You're yawning like a toad, what a boast!" the head of the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce said sarcastically. "Young Earl, do you know how much 100 million gold coins are? Do you know what 100 million gold coins represent? Have you ever seen so many gold coins?"

Merlin thought to himself that he had indeed never seen it before, because all his assets existed in digital form, and he had never seen 100 million gold coins in reality.

When Pate heard that it would cost 100 million gold coins, his eyes widened in shock, and he muttered to himself, "It actually costs that much? 100 million gold coins. I mortgaged the entire territory because I owed 500,000 gold coins. How many times is 100 million gold coins? Oh my God."

Merlin shook his head and ignored the people from the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce. He directly picked up the communication crystal and contacted the Arcane Academy.

The head of Xiguang Chamber of Commerce was very angry when he saw Merlin ignoring him.

But after all, it was time for the handover, so he suppressed his anger, forced a smile on his face, and said, "My Lord Earl, I will take you all on a tour of the current city during the handover."

Pate nodded and followed the head of the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce towards the city.

Many residents had already gathered at the city gate, and it was very lively.

When the guards at the city gate saw the Earl and others arriving, they immediately saluted respectfully in unison. Their movements were neat and efficient, showing that they were well-trained.

Many of the soldiers had excitement in their eyes and shouted affectionately: "My Lord Earl, you are finally back!"

Not only these soldiers were on guard, but many residents also came spontaneously to welcome Count Rio's return.

A burly, muscular man said in a loud voice, "Mr. Earl, we miss you so much! When you are not around, we always feel empty in our hearts."

An equally strong woman next to him also echoed: "Yes, yes, Lord Earl, you will definitely not abandon us, the descendants of your old subordinates. You are finally back!"

Looking around, these guards and residents, whether male or female, are all burly and strong men with bulging muscles and clear lines. It is obvious that they are the result of years of labor or training, and they exude a sense of indomitable strength.

A middle-aged man waved his arms and shouted, "My Lord Earl, you are back! I missed you so much!"

An older man also said with a smile: "My Lord Earl, you have become thinner. Have you suffered a lot outside? Come to my house later and eat some meat to replenish your body!"

However, amidst these warm words of welcome, there were also some discordant murmurs.

"Why did the Earl come back? Hard times are coming again. When the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce was here, although the management was strict, at least there was work to do and enough food to eat."

"Yes, I am really worried that we will have to go back to the old days of having no food to eat. I don't know if the Earl's return this time will allow us to continue to live a stable life."

These quiet complaints seemed particularly out of place amid the warm welcome, but they truly reflected the concerns of some residents.

When Pate heard this, his expression instantly turned very ugly.

He knew in his heart that when he was governing the territory, the residents had indeed lived a hard life due to various restrictions.

"What are you talking about, you little rascal? Apologize to the Earl right now!" A sturdy woman grabbed a boy with rough and dark skin as if he was a chicken and started scolding him.

Not only her, but many other parents also dragged their children out of the crowd and openly spanked them without mercy, muttering, "What nonsense are you talking about? How dare you be disrespectful to the Earl!"

Looking closely, those who just said things like "hard times are coming again" were basically children or young people.

They all had dissatisfaction on their faces and stared at the returning earl.

The children who were beaten refused to accept the blow. They stiffened their necks and said, "We weren't wrong in the first place! When the Earl was ruling the territory, we were often hungry and couldn't sleep well. Life was really hard. But when the Xiguang Chamber of Commerce was in charge, we could at least have two meals a day, and the Chamber of Commerce also provided us with jobs so that we could earn some money to support our families."

The rest of the children also chimed in. A little girl with a ponytail said, "That's right. My family was poor before and didn't have money to buy me new clothes. Now I work at the Chamber of Commerce and at least I have some extra money."

Another tall and thin boy followed suit, saying, "That's right. Before, even if we wanted to go to school, we had nowhere to go. Now the Chamber of Commerce has built a school. Although the tuition is not cheap, at least we can go to school."

Another chubby kid yelled, "And the Chamber of Commerce organizes everyone to work together and make money together. It's much better than before when everyone worked on their own. Unlike before, when everyone was broke and still competing with each other, now we all work together for the territory. How great!"

These children spoke one after another, expressing their thoughts without reservation, making the atmosphere extremely awkward.