The previous few cities were built on plains, spread out and visible at a glance.
But these two small cities were entirely mountain cities, with parts on the mountaintops, parts at the foot of the mountains, and many buildings scattered across the mountainsides. Winding mountain roads layered upon layers, cable cars and aerial parking lots intertwined, the first floor of one building and the eleventh floor of an adjacent building were connected, and the basements of some buildings were the rooftops of others.
Buildings stacked upon buildings, buildings pressing down on buildings, cities above cities, cities below cities, cities within cities, cities outside cities, cities connected to cities, crisscrossing, dense and numerous. Jiang Ye watched for a long time, feeling dizzy and disoriented.
"Does it have to be this complicated?" Jiang Ye asked. "Navigation would crash if it reached this place!"
"There are no plains near the gold mine, so this is the most suitable place to build a city," Xu Yan explained. "The power system, water circulation system, and logistics transportation system have all been meticulously designed. The undulating terrain can save a lot of energy. Moreover, the mobility efficiency of such mountain cities is very high, and navigation can be used here. Especially for hovercars, they are quite convenient."
Jiang Ye frowned. "Are you sure? Won't the citizens get lost just going out for breakfast? Won't children have to climb mountains to get to school every day?"
"There's no problem. Many planets with extensive mountainous terrain have similar city designs. Although this design looks chaotic, in reality, living within it, you won't get lost often," Xu Yan said. "You have to trust my professional expertise!"
"The quote," Jiang Ye said.
"30 billion. Don't haggle anymore, this is the lowest price, practically close to construction costs. If you haggle further, I'll actually lose money."
"It's outrageously expensive!" Jiang Ye's eyes widened.
"This isn't just the cost of the urban areas; it also includes the construction expenses for the gold mine. Our profit from the gold mine will be split fifty-fifty, how about it?" Xu Yan said.
"Sixty-forty, I get sixty, you get forty," Jiang Ye said.
Xu Yan tilted her head and hesitated for a moment. "Alright, deal!"
Jiang Ye covered his face, realizing he had asked for too little.
"Let's name these two cities," Xu Yan said, taking out her phone. "Although these two cities currently only have fifty thousand people each, as more immigrants arrive in the future, they can be expanded. The surrounding land can accommodate at least a million people."
"Are these two cities distributed east-west or north-south?" Jiang Ye asked.
"East-west distribution."
"Then let's call them East Gold City and West Gold City," Jiang Ye said.
"How perfunctory!" Xu Yan glared. "Do you have to name cities after minerals? Shale City, Chalk City, Oil City, and now East Gold City and West Gold City? Have you considered that if we develop tourism in the future, tourists from outside will see our city names and think the entire planet is a giant mining site!"
"Hmph, what do you know? These have historical allusions!" Jiang Ye paused. "An ancient poem says, 'Where the east wind is fierce, flowers accumulate, rippling golden waves carry white gulls.' This is the origin of East Gold City! 'Rice cooked with red jade from the western mountains, golden palaces adorned with rainbow banners shrouded in auspicious mist,' this is the origin of West Gold City! These two city names were carefully considered by me, carrying my beautiful hopes, and you call them perfunctory?"
Jiang Ye stood up and walked out, pushing the door open. "Ignorance is truly terrifying! To not even recognize such obvious allusions, it's so embarrassing!"
Xu Yan stood there, stunned. After a moment of hesitation, she tapped on her phone screen and searched for the lines of poetry Jiang Ye had mentioned.
"Holy crap! Jiang Ye, you've learned to bluff! This is a combination of four poems!" Xu Yan was so angry she kicked off her high heels.
Jiang Ye got into his car and was about to head back when Shao Wan called.
Generally, Shao Wan didn't call; he would send a message if there was something. Therefore, when he received his call, Jiang Ye's first reaction was his heart racing.
He answered.
"What happened?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Two things, both pretty big," Shao Wan said, panting, with a lot of noisy voices in the background. "I just brought a team back from the hot spring area. We arrested a total of 43 people who participated in the celestial gathering. We didn't catch them last time, but we finally got them this time, not a single one escaped."
"Detain them for two months, fine each of them 200,000," Jiang Ye said decisively. "This kind of unhealthy trend must be severely cracked down upon!"
"But these people have high status..." Shao Wan lowered his voice. "The organizer of the gathering is Charlotte, a black woman. She bought over 10 billion in bonds. We've just reviewed their identities, and among these 43 people, there are 20 billionaires, and 10 of them even have assets exceeding 5 billion. They are all prominent figures, holding many shops and factories, and even have backgrounds with alien capital."
Jiang Ye fell silent.
The call was silent for a full ten seconds.
"Are you listening?" Shao Wan asked.
"How about this, let them pay bail, 5 million each. If they can pay it, they will be imprisoned for three days, given a critique and education, and then released. If they cannot pay the bail, then it's two months of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000," Jiang Ye said.
"This bail... is it refundable or non-refundable?"
"Of course, it's non-refundable," Jiang Ye said. "Make it clear to them, nominally it's bail, but in reality, it's paying for freedom. These people usually live luxuriously and definitely won't tolerate spending two months in jail, so they'll likely pay. All this money goes to me."
"Understood!" Shao Wan said.
"You just said there were two big things, and this is only one," Jiang Ye asked. "What's the other one?"
"I received intelligence that a civilian organization has been developing rapidly recently, called the Thinking Club. The number of members is increasing, and crucially, there are wealthy individuals and intellectuals within it," Shao Wan paused. "It is said that they have been continuously publishing critical remarks about you in the past few days."
Jiang Ye raised his eyebrows. "Is that so? The clubs in various places are really springing up like mushrooms lately! Where is their club located?"
"On the top floor of the library in Oil City. They gather every evening at 7 PM. I plan to send people to attend and listen in the next day or two, and if it's inappropriate, we'll shut it down."
"No need, I'll go and listen myself first," Jiang Ye said. "You don't need to worry about this matter for now."
"Okay," Shao Wan hung up the call hesitantly.
...
Seven ten PM.
Jiang Ye came out of the restaurant, let out a satisfied burp, and walked towards the library across the street.
The library in Oil City was built impressively, with white walls and large pillars, reminiscent of ancient Roman temples. The interior space was also spacious, with rows and rows of thick books, bright as daylight. A few people were sitting under the bookshelves reading, most of them looked like students.
Jiang Ye slowly ascended the stairs, heading straight for the top floor.
Two staff members stood at the door. Upon seeing Jiang Ye, they were both startled and then turned ashen. Both wanted to speak, perhaps to greet him, but their lips and tongues trembled, and they couldn't utter a single word.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just here to listen," Jiang Ye smiled at them. "Don't make a fuss, just stand here honestly."
The two staff members nodded vigorously, trembling with fear.
Jiang Ye gently pushed the door open and entered.
There were over a thousand seats, with a stage at the front. This was the library's auditorium for events. If there were author signings or reader sharing sessions, they would be held here.
Over three hundred people had already arrived in the auditorium, from various age groups, with yellow, white, and black skin. They were all listening attentively. Sitting on the stage was a middle-aged man with glasses, skin and bones, with two-millimeter short hair, and ears as stiff as tin plates. He was speaking into the microphone.
"Hello, members of the Thinking Club. Some of you know me, and some of you don't. Let me introduce myself, my name is Wang Jian, and I am a professor in the Art Department at Musashi Star State University. I wrote this speech until past three in the morning last night, and it's still not finished. There are many flaws, and I hope you will be understanding."
"The topic I want to share today is the reasons why Jiang Ye is unworthy of being the ruler of this planet."
Jiang Ye sat in the third row from the back, crossed his legs, and listened with a smile.
This topic was too interesting. He really wanted to hear what the speech said.