“So this is the first thing we need to discuss, and it's not a big deal. According to tradition, Xianhua City will be officially renamed Tianqing City, advancing and retreating together with Tianqing Port,” Charlie said indifferently.
When Commander Wang Yu arrived earlier, he guessed that this matter would likely need to be discussed, as it was a consistent tradition. The former Xianhua City was built along Flower Port, and now that the port area had changed owners, it was normal for the city to be renamed.
Seeing that everyone was not surprised, Charlie subconsciously nodded: “This matter is mainly to inform you; you two don’t need to worry too much about the specific handling. This falls within my scope of responsibility, and I can handle it myself.”
The renaming of a city is neither a major nor a minor issue. While not overly difficult, it certainly involves many tedious tasks. However, Charlie had taken full responsibility, so Commander Wang Yu didn't need to worry much about these.
Pennsylvania also spoke, saying, “I will also officially report this matter to Headquarters.”
Charlie nodded: “This matter is settled. Next is the second matter: Headquarters now intends to vigorously support the development of Tianqing City. It’s clear that Headquarters places great importance on Commander Wang Yu’s port area.”
He smiled and cupped his hands at Commander Wang Yu: “Thanks to my little brother, you should have already seen that construction is happening everywhere in the city, and in the past few days, there has been a continuous stream of engineering teams from Headquarters gathering in this city. Whether it’s for the construction of the city’s transportation roads or other crucial communication network construction projects, everything is proceeding simultaneously.”
He took a deep breath, as if suppressing the excitement in his heart; he had waited for this moment for too long.
“To be honest, this is indeed a massive project. Abandoned roads need to be re-planned and repaired, old houses need to be torn down and rebuilt, Flower Port also needs to be expanded, and even the entire city’s layout will undergo significant changes after planning!”
Commander Wang Yu turned his head to look out the window. Overall, the city's development level was still not comparable to the third-tier cities he once knew, but in this world, it was already considered prosperous.
Moreover, due to foreign culture, the architectural style had some distinct characteristics, not as monotonous as domestic architecture once was, and it had a unique charm.
It was a slightly backward but beautiful pearl of the sea, like a flower.
He nodded to indicate his understanding. Seeing him nod, Charlie calmed his excitement and continued: “Although these most basic urban construction projects are massive and time-consuming, I will make sufficient plans to ensure everything progresses in an orderly manner. However, some aspects require your assistance, which I cannot achieve alone.”
“For example, the establishment of the most important communication system. After the city’s communication network system is completely built, the entire city’s signal will need to be connected to your port area network. This part of the operation will require Commander Wang Yu to open the corresponding communication permissions.”
Commander Wang Yu nodded; he had known these things for a long time.
Only after the communication network was fully established and linked to his port area’s signal channel would the entire city truly escape its primitive state.
The port area, as a signal relay station, also bore the responsibility of monitoring the entire city's communication network.
By then, it would at least be possible to make calls and exchange information with other cities in the communication network.
Even facilities like television videos, radio broadcasts, and so on could be officially activated. To put it simply, it would be connected to the local area network!
Pennsylvania remained silent, listening, and did not express any opinions.
Charlie smiled and nodded: “If these are considered mandatory requirements for urban development issued by Headquarters, then what we are about to discuss are essentially the development issues of our Tianqing City itself!”
Pennsylvania straightened up slightly, and Commander Wang Yu also looked intently at Charlie, appearing to listen carefully.
Charlie stood up and strode to the wall.
With a whoosh, a huge sea map was unrolled. The map was specially enlarged, showing only a portion of White Eagle’s map, with coastal city ports and several shipping routes prominently marked.
Overall, on the huge sea chart, the sea extended inward, and the land formed a pocket shape. Charlie pointed, and Tianqing City was currently in the middle section of the pocket-shaped land.
He then pointed to the city directly opposite Tianqing City and the small island near that city. That was where the Headquarters of this region was located, and also the starting point of Commander Wang Yu's initial voyage.
“My little brother, Commander Wang Yu, do you know how long it takes for a maritime merchant fleet to travel from Xianggua Island Port to our side?”
Commander Wang Yu thought for a moment. Previously, traveling here with the Headquarters’ supply fleet took about seven or eight days, but those were warships, which moved very quickly, far exceeding a fully loaded merchant fleet.
“Probably around ten days. I only took about seven or eight days when I came with the supply fleet,” he gave his judgment.
Charlie shook his head: “That was a supply fleet. They don’t need to stop at many ports like merchant fleets, and they also have many of their own special routes. For a merchant fleet, they also need to replenish and unload cargo along the way.”
“To earn enough profit, a fleet departing from Xianggua Island would need to stop at least 20 ports along the way to reach here, taking at least 25 days,” He picked up a fruit from the table and took a casual bite: “Some common fruits from there, when transported here, sell for several times the price difference, and those perishable vegetables can even sell for more than ten times the price difference!”
Commander Wang Yu couldn't help but click his tongue; the profit was simply too terrifying.
Pennsylvania, however, showed no reaction, either because she already knew these things or because Ship Girls were unconcerned with such commercial profits.
“So, what do you mean?” Commander Wang Yu asked tentatively, he had some idea of what Charlie wanted to say.
Charlie picked up a pen and drew a thick horizontal line on the sea map, connecting Xianggua Island to Xianhua City.
“I want to build a new cross-sea shipping route!” Charlie declared emphatically.
Although he had vaguely guessed this before, Commander Wang Yu couldn't help but be surprised by Charlie's ambition after he actually spoke the words.
Cross-sea shipping routes—the entire White Eagle sea area had very few commercial cross-sea routes, let alone long-distance ones.
Commander Wang Yu looked at the two continents separated by a vast ocean on the sea map. Not to mention if this route was for commercial use, even if it were used as a supply fleet route, it would be very dangerous, let alone for a group of slow, defenseless commercial cruise ships.
It seemed a bit far-fetched, but he thought about it and then felt it wasn't impossible.