Chapter 352 - 256: Vibrant and Flourishing Deepwater City (Part 2)

Chapter 352: Chapter 256: Vibrant and Flourishing Deepwater City (Part 2)

"I’ve funded that, too."

This is how cocky a Dragon gets when they have money.

"However, this design has a problem," the planner added. "It requires a continuous and stable supply of Magic Power. Deploying it on a large scale would be very difficult."

"What a coincidence!"

Zog slapped a claw down. "Setting up city-wide lines to supply stable Magic Power is also part of my plan."

The next few hours were spent integrating the various planners’ ideas.

Ultimately, they settled on a plan based primarily on the elderly planner’s design. It emphasized public transportation, with the industrial district located outside the city. Inside the city, functional zones like residential, commercial, tourism, and cultural areas would be mixed together, creating multiple city centers.

If a city only has a few central districts, most people will commute to the same place for work. In that case, no public transportation plan, no matter how elaborate, can save it.

Rush hour would force every poor working soul to rediscover the true meaning of "crowded."

By the time the city design plan was finalized, it was already evening.

Although the plan included scheduled night construction to build the city faster, they currently lacked adequate lighting. Aside from Zor, no other construction workers could work in the dark, so for now, nights were entirely for rest.

"Go gather all the members of the construction team and all the villagers," Zog commanded. "Tonight, I’m showing them a Shadow of Evil and providing a free dinner. But before the entertainment, I have a few things to say."

’Zog had to figure out a way to find the first batch of citizens for Deepwater City—Human citizens.’

Otherwise, once large numbers of Inferior Demons, Tieflings, and even more High Level Devils arrived, it would be difficult to attract Human immigrants.

It was best to make the population a multi-racial mix right from the city’s inception.

For a newly established city, one that wasn’t even built yet, attracting immigrants was usually quite difficult.

What kind of city can attract a sufficient population?

A prosperous one!

And how does a city become prosperous?

It needs a sufficient population first!

Deepwater City’s residency status wasn’t exactly appealing. People weren’t going to come flocking just because they were handing out citizenship.

But Zog had a brilliant plan of his own.

He had already bought up all the nearby land. The area purchased within the Sutton Kingdom came with a high degree of autonomy.

As long as it didn’t violate the Kingdom’s highest laws, the owner of the land could implement their own desired decrees locally.

It was for this very reason that many rather absurd laws had been born on the fiefs of many nobles.

But laws that were too outlandish would simply drive the residents away.

Thus, most of the bizarre laws that appeared in history were amended after the ruler discovered all the people had run off.

The invisible hand!

Based on the same principle, Zog could also enact policies to attract people fleeing from other fiefs to come and settle.

’But first, the goal was to convince the Tiefling construction crew and the villagers from the surrounding area to choose to stay here.’

Soon, all the people and non-human groups were gathered in an open field.

The numbers weren’t large; there were only a little over three hundred in total.

Everyone looked very excited, especially the local villagers. Most of them had never seen a Shadow of Evil before, not to mention there was also a free dinner.

As for what the boss of the Zog Group and owner of this land wanted to say before the entertainment, people didn’t really care.

’He’s probably just another new noble, wanting to assert his authority. Nothing good will come of it.’

Zog walked to the front of the clearing, to a temporarily erected stage that was even equipped with a microphone and speakers.

He cleared his throat and said, "Good evening. I am Zog, the current owner of this land. Before the Shadow of Evil screening, I have some new rules to announce. I hope that in the future, you will choose to stay here and become a part of Deepwater City."

As soon as he said this, the people below the stage fell into a commotion.

They were afraid Zog would force them to stay, sign a Magic Contract, and become citizens in name but slaves in fact.

It wasn’t surprising they thought this way; some nobles had indeed done such things before.

"I will not force you to stay here. The choice is yours. However, for those who wish to stay, I can offer the following conditions.

"First, for everyone participating in the construction of this city, all your contributions will be recorded. Based on the total sum of your contributions, you will be allocated housing and a suitable job within the city."

The first point in attracting a population: short-term, tangible benefits.

The idea of builders getting to live in the houses they built themselves? That would never happen in Twin Tower City.

"Second, Deepwater City will provide free education. Any child born here, or any child with at least one parent settled here, can receive a general education during their childhood. After passing a test, they can advance to a higher level of vocational or academic school, which will also be free. I hope this will be a city without illiteracy."

Hearing this, the crowd began to stir.

Literacy and knowledge were rare commodities in this era.

Even in the cities, the literacy rate didn’t exceed thirty percent. And in remote villages, it was common for an entire village to not have enough literate people to count on one hand.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to learn. Everyone knew that knowledge meant better job opportunities and a better life.

But there were no opportunities to learn.

For a family with several children, scrimping and saving to send just one of them to school was already a great strain for an average worker’s family.

In truth, Zog’s goal was to raise basic education to the level where everyone understood Magic. Even though most people couldn’t cast Magic, it wouldn’t prevent them from participating in Magic-related work. Especially after the birth of the Magic Language, it would surely affect all aspects of life.

But if he said that, it would be seen as a fairy tale, and no one would actually believe him.

Seeing that the people in the crowd were already starting to be swayed, Zog stated his final and most direct condition.

A huge cash giveaway.

"Anyone, human or otherwise, who chooses to settle here will receive a settlement subsidy of Ten Silver Coins. If you move here with your entire family, you can receive an additional Ten Silver Coins. Furthermore, you can invite others to settle here. For each person you invite, you will receive a reward of Five Silver Coins. Of course, settling requires signing a Contract. If you move away within a year, the subsidy will be reclaimed."

After Zog finished speaking, the audience hadn’t yet processed it all. They didn’t dare believe if everything he said was true.

At this moment, someone needed to set an example.

From amidst the bewildered crowd, a person stood up. Of course, he was a plant arranged by Zog.

He asked loudly, "Can I sign the Contract now?"

"Of course, you can."

"I can’t write my own name."

"A handprint will do."

Then, under the gazes of three hundred pairs of eyes, he came to the front of the stage, pressed his handprint on the Contract, and then received Ten Silver Coins.

To let people see more clearly, he even put on a little show, pretending his hand slipped and he couldn’t hold on, sending a stack of Silver Coins scattering and rolling to the feet of the villagers in the front row, before picking them up one by one.

The villagers saw it clearly. Those were indeed shiny silver coins.

’They did a quick calculation in their heads. In this poor little fishing village, a good year’s income was at most Ten Silver Coins, and most years, it was less than that.’

’Even if Deepwater City never gets built, we still get a year’s income for free. So what if we have to stay with a bunch of Tieflings? It’s not a big deal. We can just endure it for a while.’

And so, many villagers stood up one after another and pressed their handprints on the Contracts.

Some of the quicker-witted ones didn’t even plan on watching the Shadow of Evil later. They were already planning to rush to other villages overnight, bring those people over, and earn the Five Silver Coins finder’s fee.

The nearby population was limited, so every person recruited was one less for the taking.

And just like that, Deepwater City, which would one day be known as the City of Miracles, began its rise to power using a method that was practically a pyramid scheme.