The entire day of fishing was dull and boring.
Sprinkle bait, wait for fish to gather, cast the net. Sprinkle bait, wait for fish, cast the net, repeat.
Through repeated fishing, Jiang Ye discovered a trick: there was no need to cast the entire bag of bait each time; half a bag was enough to attract a sufficient number of fish.
With this experience, the cost of fishing was much lower.
After each net haul, Jiang Ye steered the fishing boat forward for a distance.
As dusk settled, he could already see another continent!
The evening breeze blew across the continent, swept over the vast sea, and reached the fishing boat.
Jiang Ye vaguely smelled a sweet fragrance, but the scent was too faint to discern.
If nothing unexpected happened, there should be some kind of ore on the coast of that continent!
However, it was too late to go and dig. Jiang Ye noted the fishing boat's position and turned back.
On the way, he checked his account balance.
7,487,000 yuan.
This amount included his passive income for the day.
Overall, Jiang Ye's earning speed was declining. After all, fishing didn't earn as much as mining.
At ten-thirty in the evening, the fishing boat finally returned to the dock.
As soon as Jiang Ye disembarked, he saw Xu Yan waiting on the shore.
She had changed into a dark green suit, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and her long hair flowed freely, still exuding an air of nobility. She tilted her chin up, gazing at the construction site with a proud expression.
Jiang Ye walked over and said, "Good evening, President Xu."
"Good evening, Mr. Jiang," Xu Yan replied, nodding. "If you have time, I'll show you the facilities completed today."
"Certainly, thank you," Jiang Ye nodded.
Xu Yan led him to the construction site. As they approached the warning posts, a blue light scanned both of them as usual.
The first facility they toured was the energy room, located underground. It covered an area of four hundred square meters and was filled with various distribution boxes, transporters, supercomputers, and other unfamiliar equipment. Above the computers, a misting system was constantly spraying water into the chassis.
"Why are you spraying water into the main unit? Won't it break?" Jiang Ye asked, confused.
Xu Yan smiled and opened a small door on the supercomputer's chassis.
A purplish-red light shone from within, illuminating Jiang Ye's astonished face.
The chassis contained no chips or wires, not even any electronic components. Instead, it was filled with freely growing dark green vines. The vines were as thick as fingers, intertwined and covering the entire interior of the chassis. The leaves flowed with purple electrical light. The water mist from the sprayer was absorbed by the leaves, and with each absorption, the electrical light grew brighter.
Jiang Ye leaned closer and sniffed. These plants emitted a dizzying, strong fragrance.
"Immortal Vines 4.0, an energy-producing plant from the Galactic Empire," Xu Yan explained. "They can decompose hydrogen in water to generate immense energy, almost equivalent to a nuclear bomb. But they are gentle and won't go out of control. The technology used in the trading hub is instantaneous spatial teleportation, a process that consumes considerable energy. The logistics center has thousands of parcels coming out of the trading hub every day. If it were powered by batteries, it would likely consume several trainloads of batteries per day."
"Awesome," Jiang Ye commented concisely.
"Huh?" Xu Yan blinked, her expression blank.
Jiang Ye looked at her for a few seconds and suddenly realized that the word "awesome," a term from a long time ago, might have been lost. That's why she didn't understand.
"Sorry, that's a slang term I learned when I was a child," Jiang Ye explained. "It means to express amazement, that something is very powerful, or frightening, and so on."
"Awesome," Xu Yan nodded. "I've learned it. Ancient Mandarin is quite interesting."
Jiang Ye's old face flushed. He had actually taught such an unrefined word to someone else.
Leaving the energy room, they proceeded to visit the second completed building, the living center.
The living center was the dormitory for the delivery personnel, and its exterior was a giant glass cube.
Upon entering, Jiang Ye was shocked. It was a mansion!
There were soft, plush wool carpets, exquisitely patterned wooden floors, and all the usual furniture like sofas, televisions, stereos, and massage chairs. It even had a small cinema, a wine cellar, and a library, though they were all empty for now.
The bathroom was the most extravagant, with marble floors inlaid with a gold-plated bathtub. Even the faucets gleamed with gold, giving the illusion of being in a decadent Roman palace. If it were filled with hot water and sprinkled with rose petals, a noblewoman would gracefully rise from the water in the next moment.
Jiang Ye immediately thought of Isabella, blinked, and his old face turned red.
"It's so luxurious! This living center must be at least 1200 square meters," Jiang Ye said. "Are the delivery personnel living so extravagantly? How many people live here?"
"This is a single-person living center, with a total area of 1400 square meters. Each floor has a double-circulation layout, and the decoration and facilities are just standard. The cost is 14 million yuan, and it's currently on sale for 10 million yuan," Xu Yan said with a smile. "If you like it, you can build another one for yourself."
Jiang Ye was immediately tempted!
Everyone has a dream of owning a mansion!
The living standards in this era seemed to have greatly improved. A 1500-square-meter space was actually for one person, and it was considered standard.
Ten million yuan, honestly, wasn't expensive. He had earned it in a few days.
"Regarding the town plan you mentioned this morning, I've prepared a proposal for you. Please come to the study to take a look," Xu Yan interrupted his thoughts.
"Okay," Jiang Ye nodded.
The two went to the library on the second floor. Dozens of rows of solid wood bookshelves stood empty, making the space feel quite vast.
In the center of the library was a wooden table. Xu Yan took out a fist-sized projector from her pocket, placed it on the corner of the table, and pressed and held the power button.
A cluster of ethereal blue buildings immediately appeared on the table, three-dimensional and very clear.
Xu Yan pointed at the projected buildings with her finger and introduced them to Jiang Ye one by one:
"Along the coast, we've set up a seawater purification plant to supply water to residents. A power plant, also powered by Immortal Vines 4.0. A fire station, equipped with two fire trucks and a water-spraying drone. The cost is 67 million yuan, requiring 30 personnel and 90 robotic workers."
"Further ahead is the residential area, with small villas with courtyards and garages for base vehicles. The small villas are 600 square meters, and the courtyards are 200 square meters. There are a total of 120 units, each costing 10 million yuan, for a total of 1.2 billion yuan."
"Beyond that is the planned area for farmland and pastures. This area requires you to decide on the acreage. The cost is very low, only requiring simple land leveling, sowing, and irrigation."
"The town's road network is a two-lane road in each direction. A market area and a police station are located in the center of the town, costing 100 million yuan."
"The total cost is approximately 1.4 billion yuan," Xu Yan finished, looking up at Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye's face had turned green.
1.4 billion yuan!
This was too damn expensive!
When would he ever be able to afford it!
"No, no, no, this is too luxurious," Jiang Ye shook his head. "I don't want a noble community, I just want a simple town where people can live. I really don't have that much money. Can we adjust the specifications and reduce the budget?"
"Give me a range. What's the approximate budget?" Xu Yan pushed up her glasses.
"About one-tenth?" Jiang Ye smiled.
Xu Yan's expression stiffened, and she looked up at the ceiling, then shifted her gaze back to Jiang Ye, remaining silent.
"It's okay, if you want to roll your eyes, just do it. Don't hold back," Jiang Ye covered his face.
Xu Yan immediately rolled her eyes.