After bidding farewell to the boisterous Isabelle, Jiang Ye settled down to think seriously.
He sat before the base panel, checking the public channel.
Messages were flying across the channel, and the atmosphere was still one of panic. To be precise, most people were close to despair.
Many were looking for teammates, wanting to huddle together for warmth and resist the water ghosts collectively.
Some unfortunate souls had already been injured by water ghosts, barely escaping with their lives after a desperate struggle, and were now waiting to die from infected wounds.
As for those seeking to buy weapons, complaining, cursing, or praying, their numbers were countless!
The entire globe had fallen into extreme distress.
A continuous stream of water ghosts emerged from the sea, landing dripping wet, charging across the wasteland in droves, attacking anyone they encountered, tireless and ceaseless, like a horde of zombies born from the ocean.
Jiang Ye read the channel messages for a long time, finally gritting his teeth and deciding to expand!
Danger and opportunity coexisted; such a global crisis was unlikely to occur again. If this opportunity was missed, he would likely regret it in the future.
Of course, the method of expansion had to change; it couldn't be the same chaotic expansion as before, which was prone to problems.
After careful consideration, Jiang Ye decided to create segregated residential areas!
The current small town was already surrounded by deep pits and fortifications, entering a stable state.
The existing layout should not be changed.
If more people were to be recruited, new small towns would be established on the large open spaces outside.
These would be similar to the current small town, with streets laid out, police stations and utility pipelines built, and defense lines and pit fortifications established.
To put it crudely, it was a copy-paste of the current small town!
Jiang Ye glanced at his account balance. He had spent less recently, and the factory and whale meat income had been substantial, allowing him to save over a hundred million.
He had already repaid half of the borrowed money and still owed over a hundred million in debt. He decided not to repay it for now and to use the money for expansion.
Opening the public chat channel and after careful consideration, he drafted an announcement and posted it:
[Notice]
[Hello everyone, I am Commander Jiang Ye. Given the current overwhelming number of water ghosts globally and the survival difficulties faced by many colony leaders, after careful deliberation, we will completely lift the immigration restrictions for Jiang Ye Town!]
[The current Town 1 is nearing full capacity, but more new towns will be established based on the number of immigrants. Each new town will have a capacity of 800 people, equipped with defensive fortifications and a large number of heavy weapons. Each town will require 60 rapid response soldiers and 25 auxiliary police officers, with the rest being workers from various industries.]
[Applicants, please send me a private message. The format for the private message is: My name is XXX, base level XX, current coordinates XXX, applying for the immigration plan, and I will voluntarily abide by the town's regulations and be law-abiding.]
[This application is only to gauge the number of applicants; the specific immigration policy will be released in the coming days.]
As soon as the notice was posted, a series of dinging sounds erupted.
They were all private messages from applicants, one after another, pouring in like a stream.
The private message notification sounds didn't stop, continuing incessantly, and it seemed they wouldn't end anytime soon.
This situation was within Jiang Ye's expectations, as the town's recruitment drives had been very popular in the past. He conservatively estimated that at least two to three thousand people would apply.
While the applications were coming in, Jiang Ye opened the private chat window of Li Yangcheng, the owner of the mercenary company.
Everyone was busy, so there was no need for pleasantries; they got straight to the point.
Jiang Ye: Mr. Li, I may need a large number of police officers in the near future. They need to be seasoned, reliable, professional, and capable of maintaining order. I wanted to ask how many personnel you can provide and what the prices are.
Li Yangcheng: You've come to the right person. The company has recently recruited a large number of excellent mercenaries, and there's a surprisingly high proportion of former police officers.
Li Yangcheng: Don't worry, I've screened them all; these people are of excellent caliber. The price varies for each person, but the average monthly salary is around 400,000. I take a 50,000 cut per person, meaning 450,000 per person per month. How many people do you need approximately?
Jiang Ye spent a few minutes explaining the current situation of the entire planet and his plans for the new towns. The implication was that he wasn't sure of the exact number of police officers needed, but it would certainly be a considerable amount.
Li Yangcheng: Your planet has over 50,000 people, and you have established your reputation now. I estimate recruiting four to five thousand people should be feasible. If we recruit 4,000 new people, that would be five small towns, with five official police officers per town, totaling 25 people. Don't worry, I definitely have 25 people for you.
Jiang Ye: No, no, I estimate we'll recruit at most one to two thousand people, requiring about ten police officers. I'll compile the list in the next couple of days and contact you once it's finalized.
Li Yangcheng: Alright, alright. I'll await your news. I'll set aside suitable candidates for police officers for you.
Jiang Ye silently calculated in his mind. Assuming he expanded to two new towns and hired ten police officers, the cost for the first month would be 4.5 million. That was a small amount, entirely affordable.
After chatting with Li Yangcheng, he opened his private chat with Xu Yan.
He spent a few minutes explaining the plan for building new towns to Xu Yan.
Xu Yan had excellent comprehension skills. As soon as Jiang Ye finished explaining, she provided a quote for replicating the town, demonstrating remarkable efficiency:
[Price List for 800-Person Standard Town (After Discount)]
[Water and Electricity System: 30,000,000 yuan]
[Police Station and Surveillance System: 15,000,000 yuan]
[Defense Line, Pit Fortifications, and Drawbridge: 25,000,000 yuan]
[Total: 70,000,000 yuan]
Seventy million yuan for one town. This was just for the infrastructure; the houses weren't included yet.
Jiang Ye's only feeling was: it's prohibitively expensive.
However, the money in his account was just enough to build two towns.
With the police officers secured and the funds available, it seemed there were no more obstacles.
But plans never kept pace with reality.
Jiang Ye clicked on the screen to check his private messages, his eyes widening.
[Unread Private Messages: 12,767]
Over twelve thousand private messages!
Jiang Ye reached out to pat the panel and then rubbed his eyes. He suspected either the base panel or his own eyes had a problem. That was an insane number of private messages, and it had only been a few minutes!
After patting the panel, the number displayed indeed changed, but it didn't decrease; it increased!
[Unread Private Messages: 12,780]
[Unread Private Messages: 12,825]
[Unread Private Messages: 12,890]
Increasing! Increasing! Increasing! The private message count was skyrocketing like crazy!
Jiang Ye calmed down and clicked on a few private messages to read them.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief. Most people hadn't sent just one private message but several. Some were pleading for a spot, while others were asking questions about the town, so the over ten thousand messages didn't necessarily mean over ten thousand applicants; there was a lot of redundancy.
Jiang Ye double-clicked the screen, and the settings module for the private message box appeared.
He changed the setting from [Display Unread Private Message Count] to [Display Unread Private Message Number].
He clicked confirm.
The prompt at the top changed, but the number remained staggering:
[2,879 people have sent you private messages.]