A day passed.
The highway west of Dawn City had already been built for four kilometers, considerably more than expected.
The two massive industrial behemoths moved steadily forward, their towering bodies and deafening roar becoming a spectacular sight in Dawn City.
They drew plenty of people to stop and watch.
And it was not just the spectacle-seeking players.
Merchants, travelers, mercenaries, wastelanders, and nearby residents all cast astonished looks at the monsters.
And could barely look away.
"What are those things?"
"Road-building machines?!"
"Great Horned Deer God above... I've never seen one this huge!"
"I heard they were shipped over from Utopia City!"
"Utopia City?! Utopia City, of all places... That's more than three thousand kilometers from here!"
"How many oxen would it take to drag something like that here?"
"Idiot! They could use planes! Stick wings on it and fly it over!"
"Hiss..."
"If only I could visit that place someday."
Standing beside the newly formed road, Chu Guang was not so astonished as those ignorant wastelanders, nor did he cry that it was unscientific like a few civil engineering nerds. Still, the shock and emotion in his heart were almost identical to theirs.
Looking at the yearning in those wastelanders' eyes, he had not even begun to win, yet these people from the East Coast were already winning themselves numb.
Dividing lands and establishing feudal domains?
Bestowing kingships and ministerial posts?
Those were imperial-era methods.
A slightly more sophisticated form of "conquest" relied on force projection and regional influence. Not only did it avoid the debuffs of reduced stability and productivity, it also saved on suppression, maintenance, and a whole series of fiscal expenditures. The returns it generated far exceeded those of direct control.
As for how to increase regional influence?
Advanced technology, abundant goods, prosperous culture, lofty