"Patriarch, if we're expanding to three thousand bats, three livestock farms would barely suffice. Why not just build five right away?"
Li De looked at Harrison with an amused expression. "Can the Construction Department even handle that? The school's construction can't be delayed."
Harrison nodded with confidence. "The first batch of mage apprentices can now perform basic tasks thanks to our unlimited resource allocations.
Those with limited aptitude among the life-class mages can join the construction efforts. They'll be a great help.
Besides, we've got over twenty thousand new residents. During the Months of Deep Winter, it's not possible for them to farm. Launching large-scale construction will give everyone a job, and we'll no longer need to provide free food."
Li De nodded. Using work in exchange for food, this model suited the current situation perfectly.
"Alright, then build five. How exactly the construction should proceed, discuss it with the Construction Department. But don't delay the school's timeline." He didn't dwell on the decision. Whether it was three or five, it was still within Dawn City's capacity.
"As you command."
---
With the school, the livestock farms, and the whispering bats arranged, Li De still didn't stop.
"Also, the second round of mage apprentice recruitment at the Mage Tower can begin, Emi can take charge. Among these twenty thousand new residents, there will certainly be some good prospects.
The policy remains the same: train the best candidates as battle mages, and they may become reserve vampires."
Training mages was destined to be a long-term project requiring massive investment. Li De wasn't in a hurry; he would follow the established plan.
Those with weak aptitude would be trained as life-class mages and assigned to work in the Construction Department, livestock farms, blacksmith shops, and so on, contributing to Dawn City.
Those with strong aptitude would be trained as combat mages through a long-term, systematic, formal education. These would become mages in the true sense of the word within Glory.
Under Li De's criteria, anyone with the potential to reach Level 10 as an advanced professional qualified for selection.
This group would also become reserve members of the vampire bloodline and would enjoy the best treatment possible.
This selection mechanism not only ensured the vitality of the vampire bloodline, but also strengthened the close connection between the residents and the vampires.
Because from now on, most vampires would be born from among the residents, people's friends, relatives, even their own children. Naturally, this would make the residents more loyal to the vampires than ever before.
"Yes, Patriarch." After a brief pause, Harrison hesitated, then asked, "Among the Solins City elite, there are also quite a few mages. Should we bring them under the jurisdiction of the Dawn Mage Tower as well?"
The mages from Solins City had only just arrived in Dawn City and hadn't yet integrated into the city's system. It was a move that carried some risk.
Li De waved his hand, unconcerned.
"Let Emi handle all those mages. What kind of waves could a bunch of ordinary mages possibly stir?"
Emi, a blasphemer who had spent decades in the Temple of the Knight God and climbed to Vice President in the Dark Pact, was an old fox. If he couldn't deal with a few mages, Li De wouldn't have made him the first Administrator of the Dawn Mage Tower in the first place.
"One last thing, the matter of constructing the new district." Li De pondered briefly before finally deciding to launch the most massive project yet: the New District.
Currently, Dawn City's population was only thirty thousand, but the Southern District's maximum capacity was around fifty to sixty thousand. At the current rate of growth, it would be full by the time the Months of Deep Winter truly set in.
At that point, building a new district would become absolutely necessary.
But he couldn't wait until the Southern District was completely full to consider it. It had to be started in advance. Waiting until overcrowding hit would be too late.
The just-now energized Harrison immediately looked like he'd bitten into a bitter melon. He'd expected Li De to bring back big plans, but this scale of construction was pushing City Hall to its limits.
"Patriarch, isn't it a bit rushed to start the new district now? The Southern District can hold up to 50,000 people, there's still room for 20,000 more. In fact, at its limit, it could hold 60,000.
The New District's scale is enormous. I fear we don't yet have the strength to support so many projects running at once. Unless we halt either the livestock farms or the school."
Li De shook his head.
"No. The livestock farms and the school must be built. That's non-negotiable."
"But…"
Li De cut him off directly. "We'll have the Construction Department draft the plans for the New District first.
Then, when spring arrives next year, we'll begin construction. The New District is destined to be an enormous undertaking. My plan is for all of Dawn City's construction efforts next year to focus around it.
The New District must be able to house at least 150,000 people."
At Li De's words, Harrison sucked in a sharp breath.
A city district built in one year to accommodate 150,000 residents?
Wasn't that a bit too outrageous?
That scale was at least three times the size of current Dawn City. The actual construction area would likely be even larger.
This plan was, without a doubt, an epic-level mission for Dawn City.
Even with a full year, it might not be completed.
Seeing Harrison's hesitation, Li De chuckled, "No need for that shocked expression.
The New District will have to be built eventually.
Dawn City is far too small. It can't support more population growth.
Better to build it early than late. Once the livestock farms and school are finished, I believe we'll have the strength to handle this project.
Besides, winter's not over yet.
We can still bring back more population, and they'll become an important part of our construction force."
Only then did Harrison finally breathe a small sigh of relief.
Li De was the captain steering the great ship that was Dawn City, he only needed to issue orders and set the direction of travel. But Harrison was the one responsible for actually executing everything.
If Li De set the bar too high, the pressure on City Hall would skyrocket.
A new district to house 150,000 people was no simple task, calling it an epic mission was no exaggeration.
Clothing, food, housing, and transportation; water supply and sewage; street layout; housing construction, every detail had to be considered. It wasn't simply a matter of building houses. It was a highly complex, systematic undertaking.
To complete the construction of the New District, the full strength of Dawn City would have to be mobilized.
With this decision made, all of next year's focus would shift toward it.
Of course, the reason Li De could even consider launching the New District now was that he had sufficient confidence.
After more than a year of development, Dawn City was no longer what it used to be, food was abundant, finances were strong, and labor resources were plentiful. They had all the leverage they needed to get this project started.
Once the New District was complete, Li De believed that Dawn City would undergo a transformation like never before.