100X Returns System: I Dominate the Age of Gods

Chapter 398: 398. Creating a New District Overnight - 2

The sun was slowly descending beyond the horizon, bathing the world in the warm orange glow of evening. Inside an isolated meeting room within the imperial palace of the Eternal Sun Empire, several people sat around a large table.

The atmosphere was unusually heavy, and the exhaustion on everyone’s faces made it clear that the past few weeks had not been kind to them.

Among those present were Samantha, the minister of finance; Theodore, the prime minister; and his son Helios, who was responsible for overseeing the public development departments. William sat across from them with Anastasia seated quietly by his side.

Only a few hours earlier, William had called for an emergency meeting, and despite the short notice, everyone had gathered without complaint. Even so, the dark circles beneath their eyes and their weary expressions revealed just how much strain they were under.

William looked around the room before speaking. "Where is Grandpa Elion?"

Samantha leaned back slightly in her chair and rubbed her temple before replying. "He likes to sleep early these days. At his age, he values rest more than meetings."

William nodded in understanding before his expression became serious once again. "You all know why I called everyone here, right?"

"Isn’t it because you want to expand the capital city?" Helios asked. There was a hint of curiosity in his voice, as the proposal had come so suddenly that nobody had been given time to discuss it beforehand.

Samantha immediately frowned. "What? Why did we have to discuss this tonight? This meeting could have easily been held tomorrow."

Her complaint was understandable. Among everyone present, she was perhaps the one struggling the most with the overwhelming workload since the treasury was running thin.

William released a quiet sigh and shook his head. "It isn’t just about expanding the capital."

The room became silent. "I intend to create an entirely new district within five days, so I need all the necessary approvals and procedures prepared beforehand."

For a brief moment, nobody spoke. Then several pairs of eyes widened simultaneously.

"Huh?"

Theodore stared at him in disbelief. "Did you just say five days?"

William calmly nodded. There was no smile on his face and no sign that he was joking.

Theodore studied him carefully, hoping to find some indication that this was one of William’s occasional absurd remarks.

Instead, all he found was complete seriousness.

"Are you sure?" Anastasia asked as she turned toward him.

"Yes." William’s answer came without hesitation.

"You all just need to trust me."

His voice was calm, but there was a firmness behind it that left little room for doubt.

The people around the table exchanged uncertain glances. They had witnessed many impossible things over the past few years, yet creating an entire new district to house several thousand people in five days still sounded outrageous.

After a moment, Samantha broke the silence. "How much funding will you need?"

"Not much." William shook his head.

"I can manage most of the construction myself, and since I plan to use dwarven construction methods, there won’t be any cost of materials as such, but a lot of afterwork and administrative setups that need to be established would demand funds. I hope you can manage that."

This answer surprised everyone even further.

Theodore raised his brows in interest. "You mean construction through earth magic?"

William nodded. "Exactly."

Helios at his side suddenly raised an eyebrow. "And where do you plan on finding earth mages to build an entire district?"

"I am the earth mage." William’s reply came immediately.

For several seconds, Helios simply stared at him.

Then he chuckled and shook his head. "Of course you are."

The amusement in his voice caused some of the tension in the room to ease. "I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to seeing whatever insane thing you’re about to do."

William smiled slightly, and then his gaze moved across everyone seated around the table. "All I need from you is to handle the bureaucratic side of things. Leave the construction and planning to me."

No one argued further. Because they actually believed that if William claimed to be capable of doing such a thing, then it must be true.

One day later.

High above the capital of Dawnhold Province, Samantha and Anastasia floated among the clouds.

The sky was painted with soft shades of gold and crimson as the afternoon slowly approached evening. From their position, they could see the sprawling city beneath them and, far in the distance, a lone figure suspended in the air. That figure was William.

Anastasia kept her eyes fixed on him for several moments before finally speaking. "What do you think?"

Samantha glanced at her. "About what?"

"About him." Anastasia’s gaze remained fixed on the distant silhouette. "Do you think he did the right thing by making such enormous promises to thousands of people?"

Samantha remained silent for a moment before answering. "If he can fulfill those promises, then I don’t see a problem."

Anastasia nodded. "Do you think he can?"

Samantha looked forward once more. "Won’t we find out soon enough?"

"I still want to know what you think."

The persistence in Anastasia’s voice caused Samantha to sigh softly. She understood the concern. Any mother would feel the same; it was the first time for William to promise such a thing publicly, and his reputation was on the line.

After a moment, she finally answered. "I think he’ll do it." Her voice carried complete certainty.

"He’ll create that district in no time." She paused briefly before continuing.

"He has performed too many miracles already for me to doubt him now. Not just me, the others do not doubt him; that is why they silently cooperated with him through this till now."

Her eyes drifted toward the horizon. "He saved my son from death. He moved an entire city into another realm to protect us from Lux. Every time the situation seemed impossible, he found a way."

Anastasia listened quietly.

After a long moment, she released a deep breath.

"Yes." There was a mixture of pride and confusion in her voice.

"It still feels strange sometimes. He’s so young, yet he keeps accomplishing things that shouldn’t be possible. At the start, I was surprised, but he made it look so normal that I almost forgot to wonder or give thought to how he was doing everything, and every time I think about it. I wonder..."

Anne suddenly turned silent as she lost herself in her own thoughts.

Samantha glanced toward her. "What does that make you wonder about?" Before Anastasia could answer, a thunderous boom echoed across the sky.