[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region/Development Index 2600/Rank 9980]
Entered the top ten thousand!
As long as the next six days aren't too disastrous, the one billion bonus is secured.
While happy, Jiang Ye also felt a mix of emotions. He had been on this planet for almost a year, using all sorts of methods, and had only managed to reach rank 9980, almost at the bottom.
The top-ranked Baiju System had a development index of 6,870,059, more than two thousand six hundred times his own. The gap was not just significant; it was like the difference between heaven and earth.
However, Jiang Ye noticed the few ranks close to his own and found that their development indices were very similar.
The rank below him had a development index of 2590, only ten points lower.
The rank above him had a development index of 2603, just three points higher, within reach with a little effort.
It seemed competition in the lower tiers was fierce, with everyone being more or less equal, a dogfight among the weak, where a little effort could change many ranks.
Jiang Ye decided to push his rank, at least to secure this week's one billion bonus.
But how to push?
He stared at the small print below the leaderboard and fell into thought:
[Development Index: A value calculated by an AI algorithm, referencing 67 different indicators such as the region's total economic output, territorial area, ecological construction, technological level, military strength, population size, etc. The minimum value is 1, with no upper limit.]
He decided to try the first item first. Total economic output was easy to understand: get richer. The more money, the higher the development index.
He clicked the panel and opened [Investment Attraction].
Unfortunately, it was empty. No new company resumes today.
He then clicked [Build Factory].
The commercial factories were empty, and the military factories were the same as before.
Low-level military factories, like assault rifle factories, Jiang Ye didn't want to spend tens of millions to build again; they weren't very useful.
As for high-level military factories, such as ornithopter factories and spider vehicle factories, they were too expensive, and he was too short on cash to build them.
He gave up. Economic development couldn't be significantly boosted for now.
The second item, territorial area, was also maxed out. All available land had been claimed. He could only claim more territory if his forces expanded outwards later.
Jiang Ye's gaze settled on the third item, ecological construction.
After a few seconds of contemplation, he got up, left his base vehicle, and headed straight for the courier center, going up to the second floor.
A slightly strange scent permeated the air, similar to the fragrance of flowers, but definitely not from flowers grown in vases or pots.
Jiang Ye initially thought it was perfume or something similar, until he found Isabella in the kitchen.
Isabella, wearing a loose, dark blue short jacket and shorts, with her smooth legs exposed, was standing by the stove. Something was cooking in a small pot on the stove.
What are you doing? Jiang Ye leaned against the doorframe.
Boiling tea. Isabella turned to look at him, pointing to her eyes. Do you see if my eyelids are very swollen? There are two ways to treat swollen eyes: either apply cucumber slices to the eyelids, or boil yellow chrysanthemum leaves to make tea. After it cools, drip it into the eyes, and it will be fine in fifteen minutes.
Why are your eyes swollen? Does this folk remedy really work? Won't it cause infection? Why are you boiling it yourself? Can't you use a food printer? Jiang Ye had many questions.
It works. When I was a model before, I used this method to reduce eye puffiness. The boiled water is sterile, so how could it get infected? Isabella lifted the pot lid and stirred. Jiang Ye peered in; the pot was indeed full of chrysanthemum petals, golden yellow like pumpkin porridge.
As for why my eyes are swollen, it's because I missed you so much that I couldn't sleep and cried until my eyes were swollen. Isabella winked at him.
Jiang Ye's face immediately turned bright red. Although Isabella teased him every day, he hadn't developed immunity, and he still blushed when teased.
You were a model too? Weren't you from the military? he changed the subject.
I was a mail-order model, a weekend part-time job. Merchants would send me clothes, and I would wear them for photos. Are you here to chat, or do you have something important to discuss?
Something important. Jiang Ye said.
Isabella turned off the stove, pushed Jiang Ye out of the kitchen, and then pulled him by the hand to sit at the dining table. Speak.
You're quite free right now, aren't you? Are you interested in doing some other business? Jiang Ye said, I'll invest, you manage.
What specifically? Isabella listened attentively.
Urban greening, planting trees on wasteland. Jiang Ye said, you can start a forestry company, recruit staff, and plant trees along the roads in the residential areas, and then cover the nearby wasteland with artificial forests. Improve the environment and make money at the same time.
Jiang Ye had prepared a lot of persuasive arguments, intending to persuade her if she hesitated. But to his surprise, she agreed readily.
Okay.
Jiang Ye didn't waste any more words and directly stated his requirements. The workers should number over a hundred. I'll give you ten million upfront to start planting trees along the city streets. After the urban areas are greened, we'll plant trees outside the settlements, planting three mu and earning one mu, using the profits to operate.
No problem. Isabella nodded. I'm idle anyway, so I'll do this for a while and earn some pocket money. If it doesn't make much money later, I'll do something else.
Jiang Ye didn't linger. He returned directly to his base vehicle and transferred the money to Isabella.
Her efficiency was quite high. By 3 PM, she had announced the establishment of Isabella Forestry Company and quickly recruited 120 employees!
At 5 PM, Jiang Ye went out to the restaurant and saw the tree-planting workers, wearing high-visibility yellow vests, digging holes by the roadside.
They were planting fast-growing eucalyptus and poplar, which were cheap and grew quickly.
With hundreds of people working simultaneously, the tree-planting efficiency was quite high.
By 9 PM, the first town was completely greened, with saplings planted on both sides of all roads.
After finishing dinner at his restaurant, Jiang Ye returned to his base vehicle. The first thing he did was check his development index.
As expected, afforestation was effective, with immediate results:
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region/Development Index 2620/Rank 9975]
The development index had increased by 20 points, and his rank had moved up by five places!
Jiang Ye was quite satisfied. If planting trees in just the first town increased it by 20 points, then greening all 14 towns would increase it by 280 points?
The surrounding vast areas of wasteland, if turned into artificial forests, should increase it by over a thousand points.
For the next four days, Isabella's employees worked tirelessly planting trees, finally completing the greening of all roads in the 14 towns and expanding the forest farm by more than ten mu on the wasteland outside the towns.
However, the expected increase did not materialize. On the fourth night, Jiang Ye checked the data and was very disappointed:
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region/Development Index 2740/Rank 9950]
It had only increased by a little over a hundred points.
It seemed the increase in the development index was not simply judged by the area of trees. The increase was significant at the beginning, but as trees became ubiquitous, the growth rate diminished.
But it didn't matter. With several days of passive income pouring in, Jiang Ye's account balance was now sufficient to build his first major military base!