Chapter 709.2: The Land of Potential

Soon enough, without him even asking, their children would seek him out willingly, treat him like an older brother, and ask him for work that could change their fortunes.

Those people had already become his strongest foundation. Perhaps it was time for him to think of a name for his family.

Watching the neighbors leave, Axin withdrew his gaze from their backs and turned to his most loyal servant.

“Kunal, we won this war.”

Kunal froze slightly. “We?”

Wasn’t that a war between the iron men and the Xilande Empire? He did not remember participating in it.

During those days, he had stayed together with his family in the warehouse Axin had purchased in the harbor district, just as instructed.

Seeing Kunal’s confusion, Axin nodded slowly. “Yes. And not only did we win, every survivor in Port Gallon won.”

Kunal looked at him blankly, confusion written all over his face.

Knowing exactly what puzzled him, Axin smiled faintly. “Two weeks ago, could you imagine a Ratfolk owning a 200 or 300 square meter mansion on Tulip Street?”

The trace of youthful pride between his brows finally matched his age somewhat. After all, he was still only a 17 year old youngster.

Kunal instinctively shook his head, then quickly remembered that his boss was also a Ratfolk and hurriedly added in panic, “I didn’t mean to offend you...”

“I know,” Axin replied indifferently. Narrowing his eyes toward the Governor’s Manor, he continued, “Two weeks ago, a poor Ratfolk could never have become neighbors with the nobles there. They wouldn’t even have been qualified to spend money there. But now? As long as you have money, that’s enough.”

He did not feel the slightest pity for the ruined Port Gallon. That place had never been his home. It belonged to the emperor of the Xilande Empire.

In fact, he thought it was better that the rotten place had been smashed apart. Now they could use their own hands to build a new home atop the ruins, one that truly belonged to them.

As for those lofty nobles and those pampered citizens who cried after eating dirt for a few meals, they could weep all they wanted. When he had been starving, none of them had ever spared him a single coin, so why should he pity them now?

Still, truthfully speaking, he had been somewhat surprised by their reactions.

Especially when he discovered that those who had lost the most were not crying at all, and had adapted even faster than someone like himself who had started with nothing. It almost overturned his previous impressions of them.

After much thought, he realized that aside from status, bloodline, and luxurious lifestyles, the only difference between him and those people was education.

Those bread-eating people in fine clothes all knew how to read and had studied books. Now he possessed almost everything, it was the one thing he could not catch up to them. And because of that, he resolved to hire a teacher for his younger siblings, or perhaps simply send them to Dawn City to attend school.

And also, he absolutely had to find them an educated sister-in-law!

Unfortunately, Kunal had not fully understood his speech. Or rather, he had only heard the word “money.”

Money truly was a wonderful thing.

Back when he had followed Vikram, he had enjoyed some prestige too, but at most it only made poor people lower their heads. The well-dressed citizens never gave him a second glance because of Vikram’s Wolffolk status. Instead, they only despised him for associating with trash, causing him to receive dirty looks as well.

Now, everything was different.

Ever since he had money in his pockets, even girls in dresses would glance at him more often, even taking his hand to talk about poetry and dreams. One girl had promised that if he bought her a ticket to Silvermoon Bay, she would do anything for him.

“Boss, you’re right... We need to find ways to make more money,” Kunal said in a heavy tone. “Collecting management fees from scavengers is too slow. Saving coin by coin, we’ll never earn enough to buy a ship in our entire lives.”

Axin blinked, unsure why the idiot was suddenly obsessed with buying a ship, though he did agree with the first half of what he said.

They did indeed need money, a great deal of it...

“Kunal, my friend, of course we can’t get rich from scavenger fees. But don’t underestimate this little business. The money we don’t care about is money someone else cares about.” He gestured with his chin toward the youths carrying clubs and continued, “It’s not just us who want to rise above our station. They also want to become the pride of their families. We give them the right to collect management fees here, and in return they gain dignity and money from us. When we need certain people dealt with, people inconvenient for us to handle personally, they’ll do it for us.”

A look of realization appeared on Kunal’s face as though enlightenment had struck him, but he quickly asked another question. “Then what about us?”

“We do bigger business.” Axin looked at the ruins before him and narrowed his eyes slightly. “This place is right next to the Governor’s Manor. If we build apartment blocks here, how much do you think they’ll sell for?”

Kunal froze. Rather than thinking about money, he nervously asked, “But what if the empire comes back?”

And besides, this place was part of the iron men’s firing buffer zone. Those people had paid them to move out, how could they possibly allow them to move back in?!

Axin curled his lip dismissively. “The Xilande Empire? Impossible. They’ve already been scared out of their wits. If they planned on coming back, they wouldn’t have retreated so far. And even if they do return, the battlefield won’t be here anymore. It’ll be those trenches outside the settlement.”

He had already consulted that man called “Family” about the matter the day before. Those iron men did not want to see such a vast area of land left abandoned, especially land so close to the harbor district.

They were completely different from the Governor. They seemed unable to tolerate seeing people live too miserably. Perhaps it had something to do with that Great Stag God they worshipped.

But no matter what they wanted or what they planned to do, Axin would cater to their preferences and serve these masters well. Besides, he was equally optimistic about the potential of this land.

Recently, whether rich or poor, everyone wanted to live closer to the iron men. If houses were built atop the ruins, they would certainly sell for a fortune.

Also, he just so happened to have some capital on hand.

Thus, when he proposed leasing the land, the man called “Family” had merely looked surprised for a moment before grinning playfully and agreeing, only casually mentioning matters such as land tax and transaction tax.

However, none of that needed to be worried about before the houses were completed. In fact, not even before they were sold. Things might change in the future, but at least for now, what they urgently wanted was for the buildings to be constructed as quickly as possible, not how much they could sell for.

That man might have a strange personality, but he was a good person.

Axin could sense that unlike trash like himself, the man genuinely wanted to do good deeds. He had even refused the kickback Axin tried to offer him.

Precisely because of that, Axin had sworn that he would not betray “Family’s” expectations and trust, and that he would handle the matter perfectly.

In order for construction on this land to proceed safely and smoothly, the first priority was clearing out unexploded shells and other dangerous explosives. That was why he had instructed the youths who once lived on the same street to spread rumors that the place was filled with treasures the iron men did not care about.

Not only that, he deliberately arranged for a few planted members of his followers to occasionally discover treasures buried beneath the rubble, showing them off in front of scavengers before exchanging them for money with the guards.

The scavengers lured in by those rumors really had become red-eyed vultures, itching to dig the place three feet deep.

These laborers not only worked for free, but practically paid him for the privilege. They would clean this battlefield spotless, not leaving behind even the tiniest scrap.

Afterward, he could recruit workers to start construction here.

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