Isabelle at the express center, and Ju Lanlan, have joined forces to build a canteen in each of the fourteen towns, aiming to capture the catering market and leaving me out in the cold. Jiang Ye lowered his voice, "I want to compete with them and build restaurants too, but I'm too busy with other matters."
"Let me help you manage it?" Tian Rao was very clever.
"Exactly. I'll provide the funds, equipment, and build the storefronts. You'll be responsible for hiring staff and managing operations. We'll split the profits fifty-fifty," Jiang Ye said. "Starting today, we'll be accepting new residents into the towns. More and more people will arrive. As long as the operation is successful, there's still a profit of over a billion yuan annually."
"But... but I still have to make clothes," Tian Rao hesitated.
"It's alright, take your time to consider," Jiang Ye said gently.
The room fell silent. Tian Rao's eyes darted around, blinking rapidly like a small animal deep in thought. Jiang Ye found her appearance incredibly endearing, feeling an urge to kiss her, but he managed to restrain himself.
Through the door, they could still hear the employees outside discussing:
"If the boss and the town mayor are really involved, who made the first move?"
"I don't think the boss is the type to make the first move, but who knows? Maybe she's very serious in front of us, but very wild in front of Jiang Ye."
"Maybe they're not a couple, but a transaction of power and money? The domineering Mayor Jiang is preying on our meek boss, and the boss can only endure it with humiliation."
"The mayor is truly blessed! I'm so envious!"
"What are you envious of, being a woman?"
"You crude man wouldn't understand!"
Jiang Ye listened to the discussions outside, his face changing colors like a traffic light.
"Can't these people keep their voices down? What are they guessing about? Don't they know the door has soundproofing?"
Tian Rao finally stopped blinking, looked up, and nodded firmly. "Okay, I'll do it your way."
Jiang Ye hugged her. "Deal! Thank you!"
He released her, and they opened the door to go out.
As soon as Tian Rao stepped out, she said with a cold face, "Your bonuses for this month are gone! What are you gossiping about? Get back to work seriously!"
The employees turned pale, shut their mouths, lowered their heads, and got back to work in silence.
For an entire week, the beachside was a hive of construction activity.
Hundreds of transport ships and thousands of construction robots moved back and forth in orderly formations like an army. The metal shells reflected the sunlight, making the open land shimmer. Dust billowed up, creating a scene from a distance that resembled a cavalry unit passing through.
The roar of construction was incessant, day and night, severely disturbing the residents. Many people went to the police station to report the situation, and complaint letters flew like snowflakes into Jiang Ye's hands.
Jiang Ye carefully read several of the complaint letters and issued a public notice to the townspeople. He stated that he had received their complaints, expressed his deep apologies and remorse, and assured them that the situation would be handled seriously, requesting their patience for the rectification.
The language used in the entire notice was highly emotional, making it sound less like a response to complaints and more like a confession of guilt from a criminal, expressing deep self-loathing, apologizing to society and the community, and promising to reform and start anew.
After the notice was issued, the townspeople were very pleased, feeling that Mayor Jiang was approachable, considerate of public sentiment, and a just and benevolent official.
Everyone waited patiently for the rectification to be completed.
Monday, the construction site roared day and night.
Wednesday, it roared day and night.
Friday, it roared.
Sunday, it still roared.
The residents finally realized they had been tricked. Mayor Jiang's attitude was simply, "I know I'm wrong, but I absolutely won't change!"
However, it just so happened that most of the construction was completed. Ninety percent of the construction machinery had taken off and left. The roaring stopped at night, with only a few hours of work during the day to construct some buildings and shops.
Thirteen brand-new towns were equipped with power stations and water treatment plants, as well as deep surrounding trenches and defensive fortifications.
Brand-new military factories, spider tank factories, and shield generator factories.
During the construction period, Isabelle was busy every day.
At five in the morning, she would take off in her express spaceship.
She wasn't alone. The spaceship also carried ten police officers and twenty soldiers, equipped with six-barreled rapid-fire cannons, rocket launchers, and anti-aircraft machine guns, all silently on standby in the cargo hold. As soon as the cargo bay doors opened, all the gun muzzles pointed outwards.
This firepower was approved by Jiang Ye. After all, they were receiving a large number of people at once, and if anyone caused trouble, they would be shot on the spot. If they encountered water ghosts, they could concentrate their fire. As long as they didn't encounter large-scale water ghost legions, small groups of water ghosts would be riddled with bullets.
A total of one hundred assembly points were designated globally. All registered colony officers received notifications and immediately drove their base vehicles to the assembly points, traveling day and night.
As soon as Isabelle's spaceship landed, she could receive hundreds of people and hundreds of base vehicles at once, making it very efficient.
On the first day, a total of 502 people were received.
On the second day, 780 people were received, nearly a whole town.
On the third day, 890 people were received. While receiving people, they were indeed attacked by water ghosts at the assembly point. Fortunately, the firepower was sufficient. As soon as the spaceship's cargo bay doors opened, machine guns and rockets were fired simultaneously, as fierce as the descent of a fire-breathing dragon. The besieged new residents were deeply grateful, feeling the excitement of witnessing a divine being descend.
Just the day after all the towns were completed, all the registered colony officers had arrived.
Four people were not received. Jiang Ye tried to contact them but couldn't get through. Their personal information showed they were offline.
In other words, these four people had paid the immigration fees but hadn't survived these few days; they had died.
Jiang Ye sighed, lamenting that they had spent 200,000 wasted yuan before dying. It was too much of a loss.
During the construction period, the intensity of water ghost attacks had been increasing, possibly attracted by the construction sounds and lights. After all, the noise from drilling could travel far through the sea.
Fortunately, with the surrounding trench fortifications, even with numerous water ghosts, they couldn't break through the town's defenses.
Gunshots rang out every day, and explosions were heard one after another, the scale of which was comparable to the Battle of Moscow. After the water ghost attacks, their bodies littered the beach, and thousands more were left in the deep trenches. The soldiers would then carry fuel barrels out, gather the corpses, pour oil on them, and set them ablaze.
It was unclear what the bodies of the water ghosts were made of, but they burned with thick black smoke and emitted a strong, pungent odor.
When the wind blew offshore, it was fine, with the smoke blowing out to sea. However, when the wind blew onshore, it was a nightmare. Half the town was covered in smoke and stench, and residents had to cover their faces with wet towels.
Tian Rao took the opportunity to produce a large batch of masks and made a substantial profit.
Since arriving on this planet, Jiang Ye had never been so busy. He would wake up as soon as he opened his eyes and start working, settling new townspeople, inspecting defenses, selecting new soldiers and auxiliary police officers, and working until midnight before returning home. He ate hamburgers or chicken wraps for all his meals because he could eat them on the go.
A week later, the major matters were settled.
The towns had been upgraded to small cities, and with the addition of mercenaries recruited from other planets, the total resident population was 10,267 people. They had all been settled.
The number of official police officers had expanded to 70, and auxiliary police officers had increased to 350.
The total number of rapid response forces had expanded to 840, with exactly 60 soldiers per town for each of the 14 towns, guarding their respective defenses.
Weapons and ammunition had all been distributed, and their firepower was formidable, capable of withstanding thirty to fifty thousand water ghosts.
On Sunday night, Jiang Ye collapsed onto his bed, exhausted, lying motionless like a dead dog.
He was simply too tired!
Being a mayor was not for the faint of heart!
Fortunately, most of the urgent tasks were completed, and he could finally rest.
He mentally reviewed the town's situation and then silently planned his activities for the coming week.
The troop numbers were already substantial, and he needed to select some officers, which was very important.
The newly built military factory was scheduled to start operations tomorrow, and he needed to check on it.
Most importantly, he still had to get into the catering business!
He had to compete fiercely with Isabelle!
Jiang Ye, tired, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
The base vehicle was deathly silent, with only the small air conditioner on the first floor humming softly.
Bang bang bang! Loud knocking on the door, like bandits arriving.
"Mayor! Is Mayor Jiang home!" Shi Zhi Zhizi's anxious voice called out.
Jiang Ye was startled and sat up in bed.
At this moment, he finally understood a common saying: "Fear no heaven, fear no earth, only fear a phone call in the middle of the night."
A knock on the door in the middle of the night definitely meant trouble!
He opened the window and looked down. Shi Zhi Zhizi, in her police uniform, was leaning on the door, panting heavily, clearly having run there.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Ye shouted.
Shi Zhi Zhizi looked up, her face pale. "Someone's dead! Please come and see!"