The freshly paved road surface was still emitting a faint heat. Reaching out a hand to touch it, Jiang Ye estimated it was around seventy to eighty degrees Celsius, quite hot to the touch.
Jiang Ye walked around the road, finding it perfectly smooth and flawless.
Originally, the houses in the small town had dirt yards in front, appearing rather rudimentary. Now, with the black asphalt laid down, the entire town's status had instantly elevated.
Jiang Ye returned to the base vehicle and took out his noise-canceling headphones, putting them on.
Climbing into the road printing vehicle, he placed his hands on the steering wheel and continued working!
The noise from the road printer was still considerable, like a rocket engine, but with the noise-canceling headphones, it was barely tolerable.
Jiang Ye spent several hours printing the roads for half of the small town.
After driving the road printing vehicle back, Jiang Ye returned to the base vehicle and collapsed into sleep.
At five in the morning, wolf howls echoed.
Two minutes before the wolf howls, Jiang Ye was already awake, getting up to wash and brush.
Having been woken by wolf howls for an extended period, he had developed a biological clock. It was similar to setting an alarm for six in the morning, only to wake up naturally the next day and find your phone showing precisely 5:58 AM.
After finishing his morning routine, Jiang Ye sat down in front of the base panel.
Account Balance: 37,781,000 Yuan
Still needing over two million, it was likely just the matter of two large coral trees.
The town was half-built and could start housing residents.
He needed to call the police officers first.
Jiang Ye reviewed the résumés of the five police officers. At the bottom of each résumé were their requested monthly salaries.
Yi Zheng: 300,000
Shao Wan: 800,000
Gong Yuanqing: 300,000
Juzhi Tomoko: 500,000
Ju Yulan: 300,000
The total was 2,200,000.
Opening the chat channel, he sent a private message to Li Yangcheng.
Jiang Ye: Manager Li, about the five police officers we discussed last time, are they still unhired?
Li Yangcheng: No, you want them to go to your place?
Jiang Ye: Yes, my town is half-built, so let them pick their residences first. The total is 2,200,000, I'll transfer it to you now.
Jiang Ye transferred the money.
Li Yangcheng: Alright, they'll depart in an hour and should arrive around 1 PM.
Jiang Ye: No problem, I'll be home at that time. Thank you for the trouble.
Li Yangcheng: No trouble at all, it's my job.
Closing the chat channel, Jiang Ye left the base vehicle and headed to the dock.
He boarded a boat and sailed directly to the coral reef he had found last night.
After sailing for two and a half hours, they arrived at 8 AM.
Stopping the boat, Jiang Ye first ate two pears. He didn't have much appetite this morning but needed energy for diving, so he ate the pears to sustain himself.
After eating, he skillfully put on his diving suit, secured the rope, and back-dived into the water!
The sunlight was brilliant, penetrating deep into the sea.
The coral reefs on the seabed were bathed in light.
Jiang Ye looked down; it was incredibly beautiful. Vast expanses of red and orange corals burned like fire on the seabed, interspersed with some green, blue, purple, and other multi-colored corals. As far as the eye could see, there were hundreds, even thousands!
If all the coral in this area were excavated, it would conservatively be worth over a hundred million.
Damaging coral reefs caused significant harm to the ecosystem. Many plants and animals depended on coral reefs for survival; without them, they would all die, triggering the death of other organisms.
However, Jiang Ye didn't care about any of that.
This planet was newly developed, and it was far from the stage where environmental protection was necessary.
As long as it made money, why worry about such things?
His flippers touching the seabed, Jiang Ye swung his shovel and began excavating coral.
Every time he dug out a coral, he returned to the fishing boat.
Holding his breath, he carefully placed it into the cargo hold and then slowly into the trading bay.
His movements throughout the process were as gentle as a Forbidden City craftsman handling a restored Song Dynasty porcelain vase.
The value of this item lay in its integrity; it absolutely could not be chipped. Even a small chip would result in a significant devaluation!
The first coral sold for 680,000!
The second coral sold for 440,000!
The third coral, 1,070,000!
Jiang Ye noticed that although the corals he dug out were similar in size and species, their prices varied drastically.
He suspected that the pricing was based on the shape of the coral tree, with more beautiful ones fetching higher prices.
It was also possible that there were strict industry pricing standards, but he had never dealt with coral before and didn't understand anything about it.
However, despite the price fluctuations, each coral was still very valuable.
When he dug out the tenth coral, something happened.
As the coral was uprooted, a dozen small fish rushed out with a splash.
These were fierce little fish, entirely red, and they chased Jiang Ye, biting him ferociously.
Fortunately, they weren't professional piranhas; their mouths lacked sharp teeth, so their bites didn't hurt.
A false alarm, Jiang Ye reached out, crushed them all, stuffed them into his pocket, and carried the coral tree back to the boat.
This coral tree sold for 580,000, a moderate price.
He then took out the small fish he had crushed and thrown into his pocket, tossed one into the trading bay, and scanned it.
Moments later, information appeared.
"Whoa!" Jiang Ye exclaimed.
[Item: Long Sleep Fish]
[Item Description: A seemingly ordinary small fish, but actually an extremely rare species. This type of fish consumes very little, spending most of its life sleeping, capable of continuous sleep for 180 hours. They often hide in hard-to-find seabed crevices. It is estimated that Long Sleep Fish can live for over 300 years, thus they are often kept by the wealthy at home or made into specimens as birthday gifts for elders, symbolizing longevity.]
[Estimated Value: 100,000 Yuan]
A small fish not much larger than his palm could sell for a hundred thousand?
You can't judge a fish by its appearance. Jiang Ye regretted crushing them; if he hadn't, their price would likely have multiplied several times over.
All dozen dead small fish were sold, totaling 1,400,000 Yuan.
They were practically more expensive than golden fish.
This time, Jiang Ye was more cautious and took a sack down to the sea. If he encountered more Long Sleep Fish, he would catch them alive in the sack.
Diving down, he continued to uproot coral.
By 10:30 AM, Jiang Ye checked his account balance.
44,875,000 Yuan!
This was enough to expand the town.
Jiang Ye tapped the screen and operated the fishing boat to return to port.
The return journey was with the wind, and they arrived at the dock by 12:30 PM.
The construction site was still rumbling, though the noise was much smaller, as the newly built houses were now located much farther away.
Jiang Ye returned to the base vehicle and opened the chat channel.
He directly transferred 40 million Yuan to Xu Yan.
Xu Yan: Received. The construction team will work for two more days to expand the town.
Xu Yan: Impressive. May I ask, how did you manage to gather so much money?
Jiang Ye: Sold a kidney.
Xu Yan:
Jiang Ye: Manager Xu, I have a question, if I may ask, how much do you earn each month doing this job?
Xu Yan: Fifty million in peak season, five million in the off-season, and fifty thousand during holidays.
Jiang Ye: Wow, impressive.
He was certain that she was indeed a wealthy woman, otherwise, her demeanor and expressions wouldn't be so commanding. Sometimes, he would see Xu Yan in a sharp suit, standing outside the construction site, her back exuding an aura of invincibility.
Closing the chat window with Xu Yan, Jiang Ye began preparing his lunch.
He first bought a chicken from the [Livestock Assistant], spent half an hour killing it, plucking and cleaning it, then removing the innards and stuffing the cavity with spices.
He wanted to make beggar's chicken, but for some reason, he was craving it today.
Before he could even start roasting it, a roar came from outside the window.
Looking up, he saw a spaceship, as large as a small cruise liner, descending onto the open ground.
If his guess was correct, it must be the five police officers arriving!