On a bitterly cold day, a golden owl flew to the entrance of door 3101.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou. I am the ambassador of the Heavenly Kingdom stationed in the Shuanghe Region, Feng Che."

Zhou Yi recalled that the early excavators of the Wuhu Elevated Bridge were also a golden owl.

According to Red Kestrel Science, this species is known as the "Golden Owl." They are not large, but are a Guangna Species notable for their bravery and intellect, possessing strong vision and hearing, astute minds, and formidable combat abilities.

Zhou Yi said, "Please come in."

The owl stepped lightly into the door.

It fluttered its wings lightly and hopped onto the back of a chair: "Mr. Zhou, you probably understand my purpose for coming here. Holding off pressure from the Governor in the Glorious War is a difficult task, and your wisdom and strength have earned admiration from the Heavenly Kingdom. I am here on behalf of His Majesty the Black Emperor of the Heavenly Kingdom to formally and sincerely extend an invitation, hoping you would lead the Development Alliance to join the Heavenly Kingdom."

"Of course, the terms can be discussed. A new position of Governor has been already reserved for you."

Zhou Yi was well-prepared for this: "That won't be necessary. The Development Alliance has no plans to lean towards any side; we simply desire a peaceful life, to make some money, and dabble a little in business. That's all."

The title of Governor sounds prestigious, but in reality, it's still under the control of the Heavenly Kingdom, which is inconvenient in many aspects.

"Mr. Zhou has a clear goal."

The owl blinked: "Since that is the case, I will take your message back as such."

"The official business is over; now for the personal matter."

Its large eyes suddenly relaxed and cleared: "Mr. Zhou, will your company's Wasteland Express cover the Shuanghe Region?"

"I often shop in various Mechanical Cities, but the delivery is very slow. Due to official duties, I must stay at the embassy and cannot fly around everywhere, so I often wait a long time. Sometimes, due to attacks on the trucks, the goods must be shipped again… Waiting is a painful thing."

"If Mr. Zhou were to expand the business in the Shuanghe Region, I could place orders at Coral Port and Recursive City."

"There is quite a significant demand in the Shuanghe Region, with organizations like the Alchemist Association, Craftsmen Guild, Track Knight Order, Bounty Knight Order, and the Shooting Society all present."

Among these organizations, there was one Zhou Yi was less familiar with.

He synched his thoughts and inquired from Red Kestrel, only then learning that the Shooting Society is the largest archery certification organization.

Good shooters are developed shot by shot, making it an extremely costly profession; new equipment is also a key focus for them.

The main business of the Shooting Society includes training, lecturing, and testing new equipment, and excellent shooters go there to hone their skills.

Zhou Yi looked at the owl in front of him: "Is this your personal opinion, or that of Duke Destructive?"

The other side smiled amiably: "I am merely stating facts."

"However, as you said, Mr. Zhou, the Governor Duke Destructive also asked me to convey this message."

Zhou Yi nodded: "The company will consider this."

"That would be wonderful."

The owl said, "Then I will take my leave, until next time."

It walked to the door, fluttered its wings, and disappeared into the wind.

Zhou Yi fell into contemplation.

He was unsure if Duke Destructive genuinely wanted cooperation or was merely performing stability maintenance for the residents of the Shuanghe Region, showing them that the region appears to lose but actually gains.

But these matters can wait until next year.

...

Zhou Yi convened a meeting with heads of various departments of the company.

This meeting mainly summarized this year's profit and development status of each department.

Zheng Tao was the first to speak with a smile: "If our agriculture department is weak in profitability, we should set a benchmark to avoid pressure later."

He activated his enhanced controller, reading the data on the glass screen: "This year's edible oil production was basically for company use, and more than half of the sweet potatoes were processed into flour for reserve food."

"The Agricultural Machinery Brothers mainly planted legumes for nitrogen fixation, producing few beans which were used for oil extraction after the autumn harvest and kept as food reserves."

"Regarding the agricultural products and processed foods sold externally, sweet potatoes brought a clean profit of 1 Light Seed, 2 gold, and 11 copper, while watermelons were the main profit drivers with a net profit of 41 Light Seeds, 2 gold, and 3 copper."

"On the Breeding Platform, since all cultured fish fries were used to raise Bone Fish deliverymen, and shellfish were used as complementary food for the fries, there were no profits on the books."

"Winter wheat will only be harvested next summer and is currently still growing..."

Zheng Tao looked at Zhou Yi: "Chairman, the total revenue of the agriculture department this year is 42 Light Seeds, 4 gold, and 14 copper."

"In terms of development, first, under the expertise of Agricultural Machinery Brothers, 2,500 acres of land were successfully improved to high-quality arable land through crop rotation and summer fallow."

"Additionally, our brother department, led by Wu Yi from the Land Department, reclaimed 110 acres of suspended layer land over the Dead Sea. After accumulation and natural drying of sea floor sediment, test growth of papyrus and thorny grass went well. Next year, the agriculture department will officially plant crops on this piece of land."

"That's the situation."

Zhou Yi listened patiently and then said, "Very well done; I appreciate the efforts of the agriculture department."

"Agricultural development is tough and costly, but we still need to continue investing more. The reason is simple; in this era of wasteland, the most scarce thing is high-quality land. The direct cause of the end of the Glorious War was because we destroyed Duke Destructive's large areas of high-quality farmland, and I hope everyone understands and clarifies this point"

Everyone present responded affirmatively.

The second speaker was Yuan Tong.

He picked up a clay cup warmed by the Flame Cup and took a sip of hot water: "The first handover of Light Soot Sand to Chuneng City by the Guangtai Dam has been completed, with a total output of 41 tons of Light Soot Sand, translating to a gross profit of 4100 Light Seeds. After deducting the 5% salary reward for the employees, tool costs, and natural loss, the net profit is 3894 Light Seeds."

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