Diana's Planning

Although the Abandoned Land is now the autonomous territory of the Witch race, it doesn't mean other races are barred from entry.

With the influx of fresh blood, the autonomous territory would surely become prosperous.

Before Lan Qingyou could speak, Shang Chuan cut in.

“In that case, the Abandoned Ruins and the Abandoned Coast will also need construction. After all, the only land route in and out of the Abandoned Land is via the river to the northwest, and the sea route would require building a wharf on the coast.”

With Diana's earlier groundwork, Shang Chuan, who had been listening intently, felt his own perspective expanding.

Of course, Shang Chuan's perspective was primarily commercial.

He was a merchant, after all.

He immediately took out a pen and drew circles around those two locations.

My goodness! What a massive business opportunity!

Urban construction involved supporting facilities.

Beyond just facilities, the construction of a wharf involved shipbuilding, services, tourism, transportation, and a whole series of other industries.

How huge was this opportunity?

Then there was the matter mentioned by the Witch of Knowledge about recruiting students from across the continent; after all, the spending on education was enormous.

“This plan is quite interesting. Let's go with that. But where should the Witch Academy be built?”

Lan Qingyou asked after some thought.

In her view, Diana's proposal was excellent; it took into account all existing problems.

It even touched upon commercial matters.

It was truly killing several birds with one stone.

Moreover, some witches—especially those who had newly evolved—did indeed need a period of study.

After all, compared to fumbling around on one's own, having someone to teach would naturally be twice as effective with half the effort.

It was just like when she studied chemistry with Professor Seymer.

Even with only a middle school education, a good teacher could systematically guide her through a foreign subject from simple concepts to complex theories.

Wait, speaking of which, she hadn't studied with Professor Seymer in a long time.

Never mind. She had asked for leave before, and since she was so busy now, it could wait until later.

“Upstream, obviously. The downstream is where the shelters will be placed, so the downstream will be the living area, and the upstream will be the academy district.”

Once Lan Qingyou made the decision, Diana immediately extended her vision further.

“Since the academy isn't a special structure, we can just build it directly using existing materials.”

“As for the witches, given their individual research directions and subjects, I think it's better for them to work independently in the workshops within their own shelters.”

“Oh, right. The downstream living area can also serve as a commercial area, though it will need proper planning. A large portion of the land there should be reserved as shelter storage points for the academy's teachers.”

“And another thing. Since the ten thousand witches of the Supreme Council are all experienced, they can be assigned directly to the Abandoned Ruins and the upcoming Abandoned Wharf in the early stages.”

“This way, while linking up with the development this gentleman mentioned, they can also serve as outposts to protect the Witch's Forest, the main city of the witches.”

“And if any witches don't like being too remote, they can set up their shelters around the Witch's Forest.”

“By layering large magic circles with small magic circles, the actual territory of the Witch's Forest can expand significantly.”

“If we create a starry sky arrangement, the entire Abandoned Land might eventually be free from the troubles of mana turbulence and mana tides.”

After finishing her long explanation, Diana grabbed her juice and took a big gulp.

Sweet, with a hint of tartness—delicious.

Since the supply chests had stopped refreshing, she hadn't tasted juice in nearly six months.

Tasting it again so suddenly was much more pleasant than just gnawing on raw fruit.

“The method is good, but the actual implementation will be somewhat difficult.”

Diana's proposals seemed a bit whimsical, but there was actually a lot of room for maneuver.

As for why it was 'somewhat difficult,' it naturally involved one specific thing.

The formation eye.

Other materials were easy to resolve.

But formation eyes were hard to come by.

Putting aside the two Five Dragon Reincarnation Protection Magic Circles Lan Qingyou had personally inscribed—as their specifications were too high—even the magic circles the Supreme Council was currently implementing for the Adventurers' Guild used Yin-Yang formation eyes, which were specially crafted B-grade magic tools.

Unless she had someone who could craft magic tools, or could unbox unwanted B-grade magic tools from dungeons, she simply couldn't meet the demand.

Of course, there were solutions.

One was to reduce the scale, gathering individual witches into village-like clusters to reduce the number of formation eyes needed.

The other was to simplify the entire magic circle so that the material requirements wouldn't be so harsh.

But that would undoubtedly lower the strength of the magic circle.

In the end, it would just be drinking poison to quench thirst.

“How about this? The urban planning, the reconstruction of the Abandoned Ruins, and the matter of the port will be left to the two of you.”

“Shang Chuan, let's adjust the deal we made earlier. How about ten percent of the future port's profits instead?”

Lan Qingyou, wanting to think things over alone, simply floated up.

“I can do it, but I want thirty percent, plus fifty years of operating rights for the port.”

“Twenty percent, plus twenty years of operating rights, and the witches must have priority in all matters.”

“Deal.”

The two of them barely haggled.

After just one round of negotiation, the matter was settled in what seemed like a very casual manner.

For Lan Qingyou, if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it. Besides, she wasn't the type to make people work without pay.

That would be beneath her.

Sometimes, one had to maintain certain standards.

For Shang Chuan, the conditions Lan Qingyou offered were very tempting.

Although he hadn't been to the sea in this world or sailed its waters, he had gathered plenty of information about maritime navigation from the Hierophant, and it was essentially no different from Blue Star.

The only difference was the mana turbulence and mana tides unique to this world.

That could be solved by establishing ports along the coast.

That was right.

Shang Chuan was already beginning to calculate how to become a shipping tycoon.

As for the twenty-year operating rights, it seemed short, but a newly emerging industry was a sunrise industry—a blue ocean where money could be made no matter what. It wasn't a loss at all.

So, after a bit of bargaining, he agreed.

The construction of the Witch's Forest was a stepping stone in his commercial blueprint—or rather, a model house.

If built well, it would not only bring profit to the Witch race but also allow his commercial empire to expand from the small Abandoned Land to the entire Kalim continent.